Relatively few people — district budget officers, Capitol budget analysts, public-interest lawyers and the stray reporter — are absorbed or sometimes passionate about school finance.
So you’d think K-12 funding is the last issue to inspire a protest song. Guess again.
The “negative factor,” a formula the legislature uses to reduce school support below what it otherwise would have been, has become a legislative flashpoint this year. (See this story for details.)
A sign of that passion is the song written by Mark DeVoti, a former superintendent and current staffer at the Colorado Association of School Boards. He performed his negative factor protest song Thursday at a CASB meeting, to loud support from the audience.
View and listen to the song below. DeVoti is introduced by CASB deputy executive director Jane Urschel. (Video courtesy of CASB.)