Prisons vs Education in Budget Battle Royal: A new ruling could force a face-off in the State Supreme Court and Legislature

Earlier this month, District Judge Sheila Rappaport ruled in Lobato vs. State of Colorado that the state's funding of K-12 education does not meet the "thorough uniform public schools|'' mandated by the state constitution.

In Rappaport's l83-page ruling she refutes the state's claim that schools are under funded because of current economic difficulties in Colorado saying, "Current economic conditions are not the source of the school financial crises.'' Rappaport goes on to say, "there is not one school district that is sufficiently funded. This is an obvious hallmark of an irrational system."

Gov. John Hickenlooper, named in the lawsuit, said Wednesday that he plans to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

The attorneys who brought the lawsuit were disappointed in Hickenlooper's decision saying, "Justice delayed is education denied.'' In the last two years the governor's office has cut approximately $300 million from K-12 education. Higher education has also suffered multimillion dollar cuts over the last two years.

Education advocates and politicians are not the only ones interested in how the state spends its tax dollars, the ACLU has put Colorado on its watch list of states that regularly under fund education and funnel the money to growing prison industries. Colorado is seen as one of the top five offenders in the nation for diverting educational resources into prison coffers.

In 2010 when the state cut $260 million from education: CDOC was given over $170 million to open an unneeded maximum security prison in Fremont County. The new prison is only a quarter utilized and is under investigation for housing mentally ill patients in abusive solitary confinement 23 out of 24 hours a day.

This summer ACLU Colorado was selected for the National Strategic Affiliate Initiative focusing on criminal justice reform. Executive Director C. Ray Drew wrote in the Spring/Summer newsletter, "I'm thrilled to announce the launch of a broad campaign to end mass incarceration in Colorado.” This national focus has allowed ACLU Colorado to hire additional staff and open an office in Colorado Springs, the home of CDOC's headquarters.