New Democrat Update - October 2005
SAYING “YES” TO THE FUTURE
Denver voters should endorse a truly revolutionary plan that will make the Denver Public Schools the only large urban school district in the country to directly link individual teacher compensation to student achievement. Ballot Question “3A,” otherwise known as “ProComp” (Professional Compensation System for Teachers), moves away from the traditional method of paying teachers for years of service and rewards them for increasing their skills and knowledge; meeting or exceeding goals for improving student learning; working in tough-to-serve schools and taking on hard-to-teach subjects; and receiving positive performance evaluations.
3A is a crucial step toward making Denver Public Schools the best they can be, recognizes the hard work of teachers and helps enhance the learning lives of our students. Improved compensation will allow DPS to recruit and retain the best teachers possible - and high-quality teachers will mean a more rigorous classroom education for Denver’s kids. Just as important, results-based pay especially attracts talented young teachers, who prefer flexibility and an opportunity to excel.
At the core of education is the relationship between teacher and student. Both intuition and research show that good teachers are critical. Studies have proven that the quality of teachers is the single most important in-school factor in determining how much students learn, dwarfing, among other components, class size. A school's ability to attract quality teachers is the most important ingredient determining its ability to educate its students.
3A focuses on how much value a teacher adds to what students bring with them. An educator with students who initially have low scores and then raises them up to average will be rewarded more than one that starts with high-scoring students and merely keeps them at the same level. That encourages the best teachers to work at the neediest schools because that is where the greatest opportunity for improvement in achievement exists.
All of that for a fairly low price - a $2 per month property-tax increase for every $100,000 of a home’s actual value. Each penny will be put into trust and by law will not be able to be used for anything but teacher compensation.
3A is also fair to teachers. This unprecedented and ongoing collaborative effort between the Denver Public Schools and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association has given educators a sense of real ownership and say.
Not to be confused with “merit pay” proposals, ProComp is results-based compensation. Rather than the flawed approach of overly subjective criteria and very narrow focuses, ProComp uses multiple criteria to assess teacher performance - most of which are objective in nature.
In addition, every educator now working with DPS will have up to seven years to choose whether to join ProComp or remain in the current system - no teacher will earn less than he/she earns today (All newly-hired teachers will be required to operate in the new system). In England, where Prime Minster Tony Blair offered teachers a similar deal, 80 percent chose results-based compensation.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said it best. “ProComp is an innovative approach that puts Denver at the forefront in education. I believe this new plan can help kids and teachers achieve their dreams.” Kim Ursetta president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association concurs, “We are fully behind it. It’s a progressive approach that was jointly developed to meet the needs of everyone - students, parents, community and teachers.”
It is time to treat teachers as the professionals they are. Each of them deserve a genuine career path and exceptional pay for demonstrated performance.
Denverites should agree.
MOVING COLORADO FORWARD
Coloradans have a historic opportunity to make a huge difference this November. They can reverse a number of troubling trends by approving Referenda C&D - an economic strategy that furthers the fundamental principles of progressivism, in a way that is responsive to the challenges of a 21st century economy.
The ballot measure simply asks voters for a five-year timeout from Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) limitations with the proceeds targeted at initiatives that will make Colorado a prime state for attracting new jobs and economic opportunities. It uses the tools of fiscal policy to expand the private economy's capacity to create wealth, make Coloradans more productive and, ultimately, help restore mass upward mobility.
It will advance K-12 education by increasing classroom resources and enhancing financial assistance for college-bound Coloradans. In addition to investing in our workforce and creating safer roads and bridges, it will improve the quality of life for all Coloradans by strengthening health care and the environment. The plan accomplishes all of the above without changing TABOR - and with no new taxes and no increases in any existing state or local tax rates.
The recent recession hit Coloradans hard. The state suffered the nation’s second-worst job losses, more than 115,000 positions from March 2001 to January 2004. Many of those jobs were cut in our most vital business sectors - technology, construction, agriculture and tourism.
The cause - Colorado still has a boom-and-bust economy, and then finds itself at the tail end of any national recovery. During the recent recession, the high-tech bust, Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, severe drought and raging forest fires amplified the downturn.
Ripple effects touched thousands of Colorado businesses and residents. Bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures reached their highest levels in a decade. Companies cut back on investments and employees. Tourists stayed away from the airlines and Colorado. To make matters worse, the recession caused cuts in many state services - the very ones that help create jobs and promote economic opportunity.
As $1 billion was cut from the state budget, roads and bridges fell into serious disrepair. Colorado’s community colleges, state colleges and universities raised tuitions, outpacing inflation, to keep pace with severe state funding cuts. While support for K-12 education dropped, state funding for higher education plummeted 21.3 percent since 2001.
Now, Colorado’s economy is recovering, but that comeback could quickly stall. State government may still be forced to cut hundreds of millions from its budget in the coming years, and those cutbacks could come at the expense of our transportation infrastructure and education system. Fifty-five critical road and bridge projects will languish on the backburner as more projects get dumped into the backlog. And public higher education institutions may become private schools - with much higher tuition - if state funding continues to drop.
Since 1992 when the TABOR amendment passed, more than 700 cities, counties, school districts and special districts have asked voters to suspend revenue limits to allow dollars to be earmarked for specific projects. This time it is the state that is asking - all within the confines of what the TABOR allows government to do.
After enduring the most severe recession in recent memory, Colorado must take smart steps toward rebuilding the critical services that attract good paying jobs and boost the economy. To succeed, we must start practicing true fiscal responsibility and aggressively invest in a knowledge infrastructure - world-class education, training, and technology as well as top-flight communications and transportation systems. That strategy will ensure that companies have the skilled workers and the cutting-edge tools they need to grow.
C&D are the right steps in that direction. The voters should approve.
10TH BIRTHDAY!
The New Democrat Update is ten years old. Starting in October of 1995, the Update has been published for 120 consecutive months. For the archives, click here and go to the bottom of the page.
While much progress has been made in modernizing our party, the work of Colorado New Democrats is far from finished. Keep your welcome and valuable input coming!