School executives association neutral on casino gambling; opposes open negotiations measure

The Colorado Association of School Executives, the advocacy group that represents school administrators statewide, has decided to take a neutral position on Amendment 68, the November ballot measure that would allow expansion of casino gambling and divert some of the additional tax revenues to school districts.

A CASE statement went to some length to explain the decision, saying, “This stance is consistent with previous positions questions related to ‘sin taxes’ for education, but it is more of a practical position than a moral one. It was determined that if CASE officially opposed this Amendment, it could be misconstrued that we think there is not a need for more education funding — which could not be further from the truth. What we do need though, is a steady, reliable source of funding for K-12 education that does not let the public or the legislature off the hook.”

CASE did oppose Proposition 103, the ballot measure that would require school district contract negotiations be open to the public. The group’s statement didn’t mince words: “Proposition 104 sets up a new, one-size-fits-all open-meeting mandate for school district administrators who enter into ‘discussions’ related to collective bargaining. … The lack of clarity will certainly land this in court and will result in litigation and attorneys’ fees. Oh, and districts can do this already, they don’t need a new law to open their negotiations—many already do just that. Proposition 104 is irresponsible and promoted by one interest group (the Independence Institute) who has refused to disclose their donors.”

The group also endorsed 25 legislative candidates, 24 Democrats and one Republican. (CASE only considered candidates that responded to its questionnaire.) See the full list here.