An Unhealthy Protest: Boulder Valley School District's 'Sick-Out'
Imagine this tactic: organize a large group of your co-workers to call in sick at once to make your already generous boss pay his employees more than he has to offer. Disrupt his business until he meets at least some of your demand
The Full Truth About Fastracks
FastTracks supporters tell voters that rail transit will reduce congestion, clean the air, and promote economic development. In reality, it won’t do any of these things; it will just waste at least $8.3 billion of the taxpayers’ money.
Did SW Light Rail Reduce Santa Fe Traffic?
Denver’s Southwest Corridor light-rail line cost far more to build than the cost of adding two new lanes onto Santa Fe Drive, which parallels the rail line. Yet it took, at most, one-third of a lane’s worth of rush hour traffic off of Santa Fe.
Rail Disasters 2005
This update to Great Rail Disasters, which was published in February 2004, traces transit ridership from 1982 through 2003 in nearly all U.S. urban areas that had rail transit in 2003. It also reviews preliminary data for 2004, compares the growth of transit usage with the growth of driving in these regions, and presents an overview of the transit industry as a whole. Each transit system is given a letter grade, A through F, based on its growth in transit ridership relative to region’s growth in driving. Major findings include:
Wasted in Denver Abstract of Study Brief on Denver's Contract for Waste Disposal
IB-2004-O (June 2004) Author: Beth Skinner PDF of full Issue Backgrounder Scribd version of full Issue Backgrounder Executive Summary Across the nation, cities that have switched from monopolies to open market systems for solid waste collection and disposal have, almost without exception, enjoyed better service, lower prices and a better-compensated workforce. On December 22, 1997, […]
Take Click It or Ticket and Stick It
The Click It or Ticket season is over, at least until the next. And while it would be nice if Colorado could say no to the seductive charms of federally sponsored, tax-dollar funded, nanny-state propaganda campaigns, this clearly is not the case.
Opportunity for Conflict of Interest on Colorado School Boards
As of 2004, among Colorado’s 38 largest school districts, four district employees serve on the local board of education. Adams County 14, Harrison 2, Fort Morgan RE-3, and Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 each have one school board member who is also employed by the district.
School Districts Help Union Collect Political Contributions
Every Member Option (EMO) is a Colorado Education Association (CEA) political fundraising structure performed through school district payroll systems. As of 2004, the basic CEA active full-time membership includes a $24 annual EMO contribution. Several of CEAís local chapters have also instituted a separate EMO. Automatically taken out of a teacher’s paycheck as part of union fees or dues, the EMO political contribution may be refunded.
Public Funds Release Teachers to Perform Union Business
Colorado school districts reroute many thousands of taxpayer dollars to the teachers’ unions every year, by granting paid release time for representatives to attend union activities and by financing union presidents and other officers to take extended leave from regular duties. This funding is done primarily through collective bargaining agreements but also through school board policies and administrative practices. Release time for union activities may include attending local union meetings or workshops, negotiating bargaining agreements, or sending representatives to the Colorado Education Association Delegate Assembly. Many school districts agree to pay a certain number of days per school year for their teachers to participate in these activities. The union either repays the district for the much lower cost of a substitute teacher or pays nothing at all.
