Tyranny is on the march. Which is to be expected, in a post-constitutional society, where we have surrendered the idea of co-equal branches of government, and turned our representative system over to appointed philosopher kings who are able, from the bench, to insist on tax increases to feed the needs of the state:
In her ruling, Denver District Court Judge Sheila Rappaport said that the State funding system of K-12 education is not “thorough and uniform.”
While that seems like a basic judgment, Judge Rappaport went on to frame a much larger ramification in her decision, and delivered the reasons why this case is almost certainly headed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In her ruling, Judge Rappaport wrote that “there is not one school district that is sufficiently funded.”
She also wrote that, “There is not enough money to permit school districts across the state to properly implement standards-based education and to meet the requirements of state law and regulation.”
In a nutshell, she has ruled that the Colorado State legislature must find a way to fund K-12 education in Colorado at a much higher level, at least a level to meet these standards, but must also do it in a way that is constitutional.
Without stating exactly how much funding would be adequate, Rappaport has asked the legislature to either ask voters to raise taxes, which voters just turned down by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, or find more funding in a state budget for a line item that already eats up more than 40% of the general fund.
While Judge Rappaport may have expected that her ruling would be appealed, if for some reason the State of Colorado decides against the appeal, Rappaport has set an impossible standard without setting any financial guidelines.
In short, the Judge has now institutionalized the idea that a proper education is tied to how much money is spent on it — this, despite years of evidence showing that per capita spending on education doesn’t correlate to better educational performance.
And she has also decided that the power to tell the state that it isn’t spending enough rests not with the voters or their representatives in the legislature, but rather with her.
And because any shift in budget outlays to fund education at a level that will prove acceptable to the court will be met with cuts elsewhere — which will then lead to additional lawsuits, where, say, the prison or transportation authorities of the state petition the court to rule that they, too, are underfunded and must be allocated more money by the legislature.
Meaning that, in short, what this Judge has done here is essentially told the state that it must raise taxes — and that the people have no say in the matter.
In a sane world, the state would respond by firing every teacher and administrator, then rehiring those who want jobs on terms that won’t bankrupt the state. Because such a move makes infinitely more sense than decreeing from on high that the state must come up with money that isn’t there to fund a system that isn’t working.
All money does not belong first to the state. And yet that’s exactly what this ruling says, at base.
We are in the midst of a soft socialist coup. And combating it by nominating as our candidate for President either the architect of socialized medicine, or an FDR fanboy and “Wilsonian pragmatist” — while dismissing as “extremists” actual constitutional conservatives — shows just how far left today’s GOP is situated.
****
update: AFP Colorado has an appeal petition, available here.
****
update: This seems especially fitting to place here: “Dept of Labor: Public School Teachers’ Compensation Tops All State Jobs, 2X Private Sector Workers'”
Meh. So what. A Colorado Judge says you taxpayers need to come up with more scratch to feed to public sector beast. For the children. And — quite literally — no is no longer an option.
Submit.
I would encourage the people of Colorado to get this judge’s address and protest outside her door day and night until she figures out what’s what.
I have it on good authority that this tactic is a valid and praiseworthy method of making sure The People’s Voice is heard.
In a sane world, the legislature would impeach Judge Rappaport for trying to tell a co-equal branch of government how to do it’s job.
We are in the midst of a soft socialist coup.
It’s going to get a whole lot harder.
Wasn’t there a similar judicial ruling in Nevada a few years back, where a judge issued an order to the state to raise taxes? Sorry for the poor memory of the thing.
There’s been several sdferr. The first was in Nebraska about ten years ago, give or take a few.
Can we pin down the outcomes of those rulings? I mean, in a sane world there ought to be stories detailing how the populace hung the judges from lampposts, or at the least removed them from the bench by impeachment, but since this isn’t a sane world, maybe stories how the states resisted, appealed and won on appeal? Then maybe, just maybe, saw the judges removed by failure at re-election or suffered their continuance in office?
I don’t know if it’s better or worse to live in Kansas. This past spring, a federal judge ruled that parents in wealthy school districts can’t raise their own taxes in order to add funding beyond the cap set in a separate lawsuit over how the state doles out money to support the state’s school districts. Essentially the argument is, if you have a lot of people, and therefore a lot of money, you can’t pay more than a certain amount for education because it wouldn’t be fair to smaller school districts.
Sort of a reverse of what this Colorado judge has ruled.
“Sort of a reverse of what this Colorado judge has ruled.”
Reverse in monetary effect, but damned near exactly the same as regards the political theory governing our Republic. Separation of powers actually used to mean separation of powers.
The Black Robed Tyrants did this in Ohio a decade or so ago. The result was lots of new schools built in poor, rural districts, lots of administrators (*cough* union organizers/Dem flunkies *cough*) added in “poor” inner-city districts. There was no limit to the ability of the locals to pay additional taxes, though — so the suburban districts have been banging at their high chairs demanding more money so they can build more soccer fields no one uses.
The grade school I went to got nearly a complete new building. The only scraps of the buildings I went to school in are the high school gym.
Oh, and as to what to do about it — the elected pols aren’t going to do shit. Republicans are deathly afraid of union thug money being used against them, Democrats skim a nice cut of the increased taxes into their campaign coffers and personal accounts. I’m afraid we’re getting to the point that “impeachment with prejudice” is the only route open.
In a psychological sense, these official episodes of keeping-up-appearances are nothing more than projecting The Lie onto society. Bluntly, it’s evil. It’s against the children, not for them.
JG, are judges elected or appointed in CO? You can see the argument for elections, the wholesale conflicts of interest and downright corruption in legal elections notwithstanding.
Will be interesting to see the CO leg’s reaction. Which I expect will be brisk. Would love to see that in the news as followup. Counting on it.
Joining Rockford, IL and Kansas City as judicially ruled school systems/taxing bodies.
I’d love for the Legislature and Executive in CO to simply ignore this bit of idiocy/tyranny from the bench. What would she do, throw her gavel at them?
Wouldn’t slapping her down in some form demonstrate a more active regard for the Constitutional principles involved LTC, even granting the other arms of government never bother to implement her unlawful order?
Here in Smallville, we recently had a bond issue on the ballot to increase sales taxes in the county to pay for improvements on the county jail. The state had declared that our criminals were being ill-treated by having to double-bunk or something and they needed more spacious quarters or the state was going to sue sue sue the county until we made the improvements. The improvements amounted to basically building a new jail which had been done previously, around six or seven years ago and still wasn’t paid for. The bond issue was roundly rejected.
The county overlords proceeded with a robo-call campaign to scare the oldsters into voting for the new and improved bond issue that they had drafted or have their home reassessed and taxed taxed taxed to pay for the jail. Thankfully, the oldsters said “Fangool!” and the reassessment died aborning.
Lesson learned? Just say No.
I would get in big trouble for saying what I think should happen to this judge. Let’s just say Serge A. Storms is rapidly becoming my hero.
I suspect, McGehee, that the thought you bit back was the same one I did.
The next time the State threatens to sue Smallville, Smallville should allieviate it’s overcrowding by busing early releasees to Capitol City.
Never work, Ernst. The only acceptable place for the new releases are specially-funded “halfway homes”. You ain’t gonna find one of those in the Snooty Heights neighborhood of Capitol City.
“to meet the requirements of state law and regulation.”
What a smart republican would do would be to tell the judge that tax increases have already been rejected by the voters. Would the judge be so kind as to recommend to the legislature which requirements and regulations she would deem appropriate to vacate due to lack of public support for the mandate?
Somebody ought to suggest something really radical like abolishing the public school system and just mailing checks for the per-pupil funding straight to the parents.
“Somebody ought to suggest something really radical like abolishing the public school system . . .”
Done and done. Straight to the roots radical.
Then someone equipped pulls in some fancy-schmancy, up-to-date public choice theory as a rationale, and fills out the interest divergences between pupils, parents, teachers, bureaucracies and the state justifying the move. Or just read the Pl. Dialogues on learning.
Upsets too many rice bowls to ever happen. It’s freakish like Heliocentrism. And we all know how that turned out!
Heh, yep, and people walk away muttering under their breath “still, they don’t learn.”
Smallville is little, but it is mighty in that it is a resort area that generates much revenue. Smallville is hosting the Bass Master’s Tournement next Spring as it has numerous times in the past. It also quietly boasts ties to many Mafiosos who have homes here and whose patronage of our lake dates back to Prohibition.
In short, Capitol City doesn’t push too hard least they sleep with the fishes.
“they sleep with the fishes”
Ha! You mean they’re taken out for a cheerful weekend of noodling and end up swallowed by a catfish?
Something like that, sdferr. There has been more than one “tragic” boating accident involving bigwigs over the years.
There has been more than one “tragic” boating accident involving bigwigs over the years.
I’ll repeat what I said in the other thread: People figure out which methods work best. It might be wise for our Moral Superiors to set up an incentive system that doesn’t rely on the threat of death.
I don’t know what that would be, Squid. Appealing to our better natures seems to be a big fail. Death threats, not so much.
Sure enough we’d have to abandon any reliance on Hobbes, since he can’t get by without it, even getting to his conclusion that peace is the highest order of good.
My hope, Leigh, is that enough politicos will learn to listen to the pushback by their constituents, before said constituents decide to escalate matters. And since a lot of them seem hell-bent on turning us all into criminals anyway, there may come a day when a lot of people decide they have nothing to lose.
I can assure you that I will never apply for a permit to exhale, no matter how damaging to Gaia my City Council may say I am.
[…] All your money belongs to the state. Judges of the state get to decide where your money needs to be. If you’re lucky, you will get to keep some. […]
[…] tip goes to Protein Wisdom, where it is pointed out, In short, the Judge has now institutionalized the idea that a proper […]
[…] tip goes to Protein Wisdom, where it is pointed out, In short, the Judge has now institutionalized the idea that a proper […]
[…] empowered to do these days, it’s hard to find this as radical as many of the commenters do. Protein Wisdom: In short, the Judge has now institutionalized the idea that a proper education is tied to how much […]
Monday morning links…
Why unhappy people become Liberals Trinity Church getting annoyed with OWS The return of the Radical Chic evening In Colorado, Judge says it is her job to dictate state funding of education, not the job of the voters or legislators Report from the Glo…