Another month has passed and once again it has been a very interesting education of your thoughts and concerns. Thank you to all that have posted and we look forward to hearing more of your comments and concerns.
If you are confused about how to post on the blog or feel more comfortable e-mailing me your comments and concerns, please do so and we will post it for you.
E-mail: dustin.mcintyre@yahoo.com
Dustin McIntyre, Gateway News and gatewaynews.org
8 comments:
Part ONE
Vast Difference
by Estelle Remington
Once again, Adams 14 School District is trying to pass a massive School Bond through using the disguise of real American education in the form of a survey over the phone. Personally, I think, different agencies use these phone surveys so that you have little time to think through your answers and also, you lose your train of thought after about a dozen or so of these disagree and strongly agree questions.
Adams 14 is now asking for another 27 million School Bond that will have a payoff of with interest of 43 million dollars. All of which is to be paid in full by Commerce City citizens who are home owners who pay their taxes and are registered to vote in this United States. They want a tax increase of about 2 million or for every $50,000 dollars of your home value, the home owner will pay $150 in tax. For us, that would mean about a $573 increase in school tax for one year for ?? years. They claim that the Commerce City Adams 14 School District home owners have already benefited in that our home values have increased being in the Adams 14 School District. On the contrary, our home value has gone down by $27,000 in 2009, because, we are in the Adams 14 School District.
Furthermore, they want a 5 million dollar override for hiring new teachers, which, they have fired and laid off for years. A full-day kindergarten, after-school programs and year round schools, which to my mind is just glorified expensive daycare. It is common knowledge that a majority of parents in Adams 14 are low-income wage earners who often keep their older children home to baby-sit younger siblings so they can go out to work with total disregard for their older children's education. These parents usually have not completed high school themselves and do not need a High School Diploma to get minimum wage jobs. (Angelou Economics Study.)
Part TWO
Vast Difference
by Estelle Remington
Moreover, Adams 14 School District is asking, lobbying, the State and Federal government for a $180 million dollar Building Best Schools Act Federal handout to be given to the State of Colorado in just a few months because they want to build several new elementary and middle schools. One problem with this School Board's administration is that the CC taxpayer can not trust them to put any money on education. As, they, independent of taxpayer wishes and intent spend the money on their own agendas. The money does not go where they say it will go. Once, they pass a Bond, they spend it on whatever they decide it needs to go, Lawyers, Lobbyists, etc. Remember, the deal with teachers having to buy pencils for students and supplying their own trash bags for classrooms?
Consequently, there is a vast difference between legitimate requests for taxpayers support of a school district and Adams 14 School District. In other school districts, the majority of students that attend that school district have parents that are homeowners, pay school tax and are citizens of this United States that are registered to vote. This is not the case with Adams 14 School District. The majority of parents do not own homes, pay school taxes nor are they able to vote in any elections. In fact, they steadfastly refuse to even embrace our culture, language or our Nation. Now, Adams 14 is once again trying to convince the CC taxpayers to pay for thousands of students whose parents can not pay for their child's education, themselves. The CC taxpayer needs to vote to close this School District down and reorganize a new School District with a totally new Board of Education. Then, we can think about a new Bond issue.
Recently, my husband and I reviewed our Home Mortgage Loan statement to see how much of our monthly house payment was being paid to the Principal. It was .28 cents per month. Yes, that's the truth! Most of the payment went to Interest and then Escrow for Insurance and Taxes. On our Money Market Fund we made .17 cents in three months, but, at least we didn't lose money. Tell me that the American taxpayer can afford another Adams 14 School Bond when the majority of student's parents don't support that School. Finally, what the Adams 14 School District is doing is using the value of your home for Collateral (Property, as security, pledged by the borrower to protect the interests of the lender.) for the School District's Bond. If, you can not pay taxes, you will lose your home and the School District will just apply for State and Federal Aid.
I agree that you can't trust the board of district 14 to put the monies they are given to good use.
Even though the bond issue DIDN'T pass to build a charter school, somehow they built it anyway.
That money in actuality will be the districts to cover if the charter fails to pay it back.
Just another boondoggle of distict 14s leadership.
The new high school was sorely needed....but now it is time for the district to stop its wasteful spending and self caused law suits against them.
No more money until we get REAL leadership.
I am a city employee and all the employees need City Council's help! Employee morale is at an all time low. The employees no longer respect Mr. Flannery. He does not care about the employees. I hope City Council asks all the employees what is going on. There is a lot going on that they would be ashamed of!
Eagle Creek Meeting
PART ONE by Estelle Remington
The residents of Eagle Creek had their last Neighbor to Neighbor meeting on Saturday, April 26, 2008, from 12pm to 1:30pm. Because, we wanted to give new and old residents time to speak about their current concerns and issues, we set another meeting for Jan. 30th from 1pm to 2pm. In Sept. of 2009, another neighbor and I discussed the need for a place for our estimated 290 children in Eagle Creek to play. We, then, talked about the fact that Eagle Creek Subdivision was the only small area that was not included in the 27J School District since 1959. Also, that it was documented, common knowledge that the Adams 14 School District has failed to graduate 58% of our students. For these past five months, we gathered data and statistics to present at our meeting so that residents an parents could make an educated choice for the future success of Eagle Creek's children. My neighbor went door to door for hours inviting residents to come to our meeting. Due to her efforts, we had a perfect turnout of 30 residents, some new to the subdivision who took their time away from family duties to attend our meeting. All were willing and eager to participate in this our first meeting in almost one year. As we began to present our materials, Jeanette Lewis insisted on being heard and completely denied all of the data and statistics we were about to present.
A few years ago, Commerce City Council members and our Mayor hired several reputable survey companies to research, survey, gather data and hold community meetings to develop a plan for future growth to the year 2035 for Commerce City. About eighteen months ago, the Mayor and City Council named a Citizen Advisory Committee of which I am a member to discuss all this gathered data and make recommendations to our Planning Committee and City Council members. This data was in turn put on the c3.gov.com Internet so that residents of CC could review reports for these past two years or so.
Pres. Lewis insisted that she was going to defend Adams 14 against this documented and published data. She never introduced herself nor identified who she was to our Eagle Creek residents and contrary to whatever she was thinking many who send their children to 27J Schools had no idea who she was. Pres. Lewis does not live in Eagle Creek Subdivision and she strongly denied any knowledge of the data we presented, moreover, she insisted that the phone survey to residents of SD 14 about the proposed 27 million new school Bond which will be with interest more like 43 million was just to take SD 14's "temperature" of the Adams 14 homeowners and school taxpayers and really was just something they were thinking, they might do. If, the majority of Adams 14 homeowners voted yes to this survey it would be put on the ballot and if, the majority of homeowners again vote, yes, they would pass a new Bond issue for SD 14, no matter, if homeowners in one section of the school district was strongly against it. Many of the parents that send their children to Adams 14 schools do not own homes and do not pay a school tax.
Eagle Creek Meeting
PART TWO by Estelle Remington
Furthermore, Pres. Lewis denied that SD 14 had gang activities within her school district. "We have no problem with gangs." In the August 1, 2007, article in the Beacon, The Beacon under their Law Enforcement Reports listed Monaco Elementary and Dupont Elementary Schools with graffiti " of a chicken about four feet high and five feet long. Also, "KOT," "Toxic," "SARS," & "Brome" written next to the chicken was a picture of dice with the words "High Life." On July 23, 2008, the Rev. Leon Kelly talked about community gang issues. " You could become a victim of gangs." (Beacon.) The police officers attending our meeting said they arrested three fifteen year old boys with gang affiliations. In the April 4,2009, Beacon, CC police made multiple, teen arrests in break-ins, burglaries in the Northern Area. "Teenage boys ranging in age 14 to 19 years old in connection with break-ins and burglaries in the subdivisions of ......Reunion, ....Eagle Creek and Belle Creek." The police have now recovered items taken in the Northern Range and are asking residents to come in and identify their belongings.
In the May 09, 2007, Beacon, School District 14 blamed their lower third grade reading scores on "the majority of the district decline is attributed to an aggressive language transition program." In the Gateway News, Dec. 19, 2008, the Colorado Department of Education published the School Accountability Reports." I used this as part of my report to Eagle Creek residents as Pres. Lewis denied she had any knowledge of these statistics on SD 14. If, Pres. Lewis is clearly stating that she had no knowledge of the data from the Angelou Economics survey and does not recognize the Colorado Dept. of Education SAR reports than she is not actively participating in her role as President of the Adams 14 School Board.
In Conclusion, Pres. Lewis attributes SD 14s low graduation rates "to families moving back to Mexico or out of district." She was asked what happens to State and Federal monies of $6,200 per student per year given through the October Count for these students and she said, " she did not know." Pres. Lewis by insisting that she be heard before our Eagle Creek residents took precious time away from our discussions on our individual issues. Jeanette Lewis acts as Judge and Jury over any discussions about SD 14 and seems to forget that our government gave us the right to come together and discuss our own issues without verbal harassment from outside authorities. She sits with a face drawn in lines from years of doing verbal battle with the residents of Adams 14 School District and demands that only her agenda will be presented. When, a resident of SD 14 goes into her public domain one has only 3 minutes to speak and then a warning tone, tells the speaker when their 3 minutes is almost up. Pres. Lewis took almost 20 to 30 minutes to defend her ideas of what a resident of her school district has a right to say. Then, as she left, she told me, " You need to come to me first, before, you discuss any materials." When and where is Eagle Creek's freedom of speech in all of this? We have the right to make our own choices in the matter of our children's education and recreation for the "good of the child."
ANY NEWS ON WALMART IN THE NORTHERN RANGE?
Those are some very good points Estelle and a huge part of our image problem. They may be documented facts but they cast light on immigration issues. That being a hot button issue, SD 14 personnel and city officials won't discuss it because it may polarize the community.
C_City Voter
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