State board of education appeals Lobato

What’s churning:

Updated 9:45 a.m. – The State Board of Education voted 4-3 Tuesday morning to appeal a Denver District judge’s ruling against the state in the Lobato v. State lawsuit.

The board met for about 25 minutes in closed session before taking the vote in public during a conference call. The panel also met for an hour on Dec. 21 but then adjourned without taking a vote. On that same day Gov. John Hickenlooper announced he will appeal, so the landmark case was going to the Colorado Supreme Court no matter what the board did.

SBE’s four Republicans, Bob Schaffer, Marcia Neal, Paul Lundeen and Deb Scheffel, voted for appeal while Democrats Elaine Gantz Berman, Jane Goff and Angelika Schroader voted no.

Berman read a brief statement saying, “The current funding system isn’t getting the job done” and that “the appeal only means an unnecessary delay” in reforming the system and improving Colorado schools.

Hickenlooper, the board and education Commissioner Robert Hammond, a board employee, are defendants in their official capacities. The board also voted 4-3 on a separate resolution authorizing the appeal on Hammond’s behalf. Lobato archive

Berman also submitted a commentary on her vote to EdNews. Read it here.

Holiday reading

The staff of the Legislative Task Force on School Discipline has issued the final version of the panel’s report – read it here. The task force earlier approved a draft of a bill that would overhaul discipline law. But there wasn’t complete interest-group agreement on the wording, so there have been continued meetings about the issue. Expect a significantly different version once the bill surfaces after the 2012 session starts Jan. 11.

In case you missed it

There was a smattering of education news as last week ended, so here are some links of interest:

Around the state

Around the nation

The EdNews’ Churn is a daily roundup of briefs, notes and meetings in the world of Colorado education. To submit an item for consideration in this listing, please email us at EdNews@EdNewsColorado.org.