Author: Paula Noonan

Paula Noonan One word describes 2023: doozie. That same word may end up describing 2024. The national scene had lots of doozies in 2023, and Colorado also had its fair share. For anyone whose life spans Richard Nixon’s near impeachment and Donald Trump’s multiple impeachments and indictments, which disasters have been worse for democracy? We…

Paula Noonan The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) is about to get into the dictionary and the math business. HB23-1294, Pollution Protection Measures, tasks the ECMC with defining two terms: “incremental” and “cumulative.” The legislation then tasks the commission with adding up incremental pollution impacts to determine the cumulative effects of oil and gas…

Paula Noonan Some decisions are never too late, and others are damage done that should be undone. Rep. Ruby Dickson of Arapahoe County, mostly Centennial, is now a one-session legislator. She is vexed by the vicious vituperation at the state House. She had a promising career now short-circuited. Dickson sponsored and passed eight bills, including…

Paula Noonan Finalized CMAS standardized test results and performance ratings for 2023 will come out this month. School and district performance ratings ostensibly tell the public how our schools and districts are performing based on criteria established by the state legislature and the state Board of Education. People buy houses based on these ratings. Parents…

Paula Noonan Proposition HH failed to bring more dollars to Colorado’s public schools. It couldn’t possibly have lost because people think too much money is flowing into K-12 education, could it? Certainly citizens don’t think about $11,000 per-year, per-student is enough to cover all the circumstances teachers, students and parents face in giving and receiving…

Paula Noonan This Thanksgiving season, should we be thankful about Gov. Jared Polis’s extraordinary session that took on the governor’s robust failure of Proposition HH to solve the world’s problems? Okay, Proposition HH was only trying to solve Colorado’s problems. Okay, Proposition HH was really trying to save us from TABOR problems. One lesson Gov.…

Paula Noonan As every student of world and Middle East history knows, the lands that comprise Israel/Palestine have changed hands many times, from the Canaanites in the Middle Bronze Age (2100-1500 BCE), to the New Kingdom of Egypt (1550-1200 BCE), to Israel and Judah around 900 BCE, to the Assyrian invasions around 730 BCE, to…

Paula Noonan “The people of Colorado have spoken!” said the ballot box to the Governor. “What language did they speak in?” asked the Governor. “They spoke in standard Coloradan,” replied the ballot box. “They do not want you to mess with TABOR, even if that means paying more in property taxes!” And with that message…

Paula Noonan Have you ever been showered with money? So much money it could buy an election? Especially a school board election that a couple of decades ago went for a few thousands spread across seven or eight candidates. This Denver school board election now runs just under $2 million. Who has that kind of…

Paula Noonan Four prominent Denver parents have weighed in on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education election in a recent editorial. They point their disapproving fingers at Scott Baldermann, District 1 DPS board member, and Charmaine Lindsay, District 5 member, even though these directors keep plugging away at DPS’ issues without creating the drama…