OPINION: Open government
With all the hoopla going on in Washington about the stimulus package, it might be easy to overlook important legislation happening just up the road at the state Capitol in Denver. That would be a mistake. State and local laws can have a more immediate impact on the lives of everyday people than do national laws. And because lawmakers in Colorado represent fewer people than those in Washington, the average voter actually has a louder voice in debates in the Statehouse. The bumper sticker, "Think globally, act locally," applies to this situation.
Last week, the Colorado Senate Education voted to keep taxpayers in the dark about how their local school districts spend the money they're given to educate children. A press release sent out by Sen. Ted Harvey, sponsor of SB 57, noted that although the legislation did move forward, it had been amended to gut the bill of its original intent. In its original form, SB 57 would have required school districts to post on their Web sites information about expenditures. The Highlands Ranch Republican believes doing so would provide taxpayers with an accounting of how their money is being spent, making districts more accountable. Education Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, derailed that idea by proposing an amendment that "encourages" rather than requires districts to open their books online. That's the version that passed out of committee.
Bacon's amendment solidifies in the minds of government bureaucrats that although openness is the way a government accountable to the people should work, politicians aren't going to insist on it. Voters should contact their senators, especially Bacon, and let them know the people do insist on accountability.
Supporters of the status quo, which is what the amendment is, tried to claim SB 57 would impose a financial hardship on districts. Committee member Sen. Keith King took care of that concern with an amendment that changed the reporting requirement from daily postings to once a month. Not good enough.
Opponents of the bill said even that requirement would impose, according to Harvey's press release, an "unreasonable" burden on districts. So now it's "unreasonable" for school districts to be accountable to those who fund their operations? Perhaps districts could trade some assistant principal for a clerical person who would gather the information and post it online.
Even though the law requires it, getting access to public records isn't always easy. The committee heard testimony from many taxpayers about the trouble they had getting information from local school districts. Natalie Menton got the detailed spending records from the Jefferson County district and posted them online at her own expense. She told the committee her site had received thousands of hits in the five months the information has been available. That kind of a record shows taxpayers are interested in school spending.
The bill now moves to the Senate floor, where it's possible Bacon's amendment could be stripped, returning the legislation to a form that would actually do some good.
