Author: Paula Noonan

Paula Noonan According to everybody, CD-8 will be one of the most competitive U.S. House of Representatives races in the nation. The district in the north Denver metro area across to Greeley is 40% Hispanic and leans slightly Democratic. Politicos believe the GOP has a good shot at winning because of the midterm election and…

Paula Noonan U.S. Rep Ed Perlmutter, D-Arvada, is retiring from his Congressional District 7 seat, leaving a big empty spot for either party to fill. There’s a primary on the GOP side with three candidates. Democrat Brittany Pettersen muscled out other Democratic competitors to take the blue side of the ballot. Pettersen was elected to…

Paula Noonan How many ways can Coloradans tell our children how much they’re not valued? Over ten billion ways, at last count. That’s roughly how much the state has shorted Colorado’s school children in funding for more than a decade. This year’s state budget adds $545 per student for school finance and cuts the negative…

Paula Noonan Do legislator votes matter in elections? Not enough! It’s a challenge to figure out whether legislators vote on bills the way they say they will, whether they vote with their party, where they fall on a far left to far right scale, or whether they voted on bills at all. State Rep. Ron…

Paula Noonan From a party discipline standpoint, this year’s House chamber proceeded as in the recent past. Democrats stuck together and Republicans didn’t. This result is no secret. Since Republicans lost both chambers and the governor’s office, the party has split in two on many issues. Democrats only split in two on two issues. This…

Paula Noonan Some state leaders treat square-state Colorado as their sandbox. It’s their place to build castles and kick sand in citizens’ eyes. Two state leaders, Peter Groff and Terrance Carroll, recently objected to articles related to SB22-197, Innovation School Zones and Alternative Governance. From their perspective, innovation school zones in the Denver Public Schools…

Paula Noonan So why the delay of the School Finance Act, educators and the public may ask? The House passed the hard-fought School Finance Act, HB22-1390, the Senate Education Committee passed the hard-fought HB22-1390, but now the School Finance bill is stuck and laid over in Senate Appropriations. HB22-1390 was laid over on Tuesday. This…

Paula Noonan Preferential treatment does not lead to equity. Denver’s innovation management school zones argue that equity is one of their most important principles. Yet they want preferential treatment to get their way with the Denver Public School (DPS) board. SB22-197, Innovation Schools and Alternative Governance, focuses mainly on DPS but it will have impacts…

Paula Noonan Privilege is as privilege does. Privilege’s privilege is to ask for more of it, which is what is happening with SB22-197, Innovation School Zones with Alternative Governance. The Innovation Schools Act of 2008 set up the option for public schools to declare themselves innovation schools. After a process involving teachers, administrators and school…

Paula Noonan It’s an exciting moment when legislators put their feet down to say enough is enough, especially when the feet are bipartisan. SB22-197 on creating an Orphan Oil and Gas Wells Enterprise offers such an instance. Typically Republicans don’t join in with Democrats when fees for an enterprise are involved. In this case, two…