February 11, 2010 06:29 PM UTC

Connecting the Dots

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• by: colorado76

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

In today’s Denver Post, we see one of the stories that has received a lot of attention from the political class moving toward its completion:

The Colorado Senate narrowly passed bills taxing candy and soda and energy used in manufacturing despite fears that the taxes could cause layoffs.

Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel in Pueblo, the state’s largest energy user aside from utilities, said it may have to cut 30 to 120 jobs because of the energy tax.

That hike passed by a vote of 18-16 Wednesday.

. . .

Republicans wanted the governor to cut more from the budget instead – $17.8 million from the rest of this budget year and $306.5 million from next year.

What this article doesn’t tell you, is what exactly those additional $300 million in cuts look like.  For that, we have to turn the page:

From the same Denver Post, we see just what cutting the budget means in our communities:

School districts girding for draconian cuts in state funding are sending out surveys to parents, querying staff and asking community members to help figure out where to cut and how deeply.

Colorado districts have not yet finalized their 2010-11 budgets, which are being pared to close a state funding gap of at least $260 million.

But they have begun to indicate dramatic cuts are approaching – fewer teachers, reduced class offerings and larger class sizes.

Some districts are mulling eliminating middle school sports, making families pay for children to ride the bus or reducing high school credit requirements.

. . . .

“This isn’t going to be shaving here or there,” said Briggs Gamblin, spokesman for Boulder Valley schools. “There are going to be significant cuts all through the district – every operational level and into every school.”

. . . .  

“There is nothing good here,” Superintendent Cindy Stevenson said.

For most districts, large cuts will translate into layoffs, furloughs or pay reductions.

“For us, 83 percent is salary and benefits,” Aurora Superintendent John Barry said. “This is the worst fiscal crisis that Aurora Public Schools has faced in modern memory. The cuts will be evident. We are trying to stay away from the classroom as much as we possibly can.”

. . . .

“Each school will decide on their priorities, based on the particular student needs,” Superintendent Tom Boasberg said. “Some schools, it will be an issue of a class size. Some schools it may be an issue of an interventionist for a struggling learner.”

The article concludes with a chart showing the ten major school districts in the state and the cuts required of each, all over $10 million.

And that’s the situation right now.  That’s the situation without any additional cuts.  The truth is, the time for talking about “cutting government spending” in the abstract is over.  The budget decisions being made now are about to hit Colorado families very, very hard.  If Senator Penry and Senate Republicans look at this situation and think that even higher class sizes are better than ending the tax exemptions, they are certainly entitled to hold that view.  But to continue to act as if more large cuts can be made to the budget without doing real damage to our communities is a pure dereliction of duty as public officials.  The problems are real, and if you continue to convince others to ignore them as you ignore them yourself, you are simply not fit to lead.