Teachers are the heart of D-11

I’m a veteran teacher with D-11, and there’s something we need our community to know about: our school board’s treatment of the Colorado Springs Education Association (CSEA). The board is quick to refer to us as if we are some outside villain, but we aren’t. The CSEA are simply the teachers and professionals who greet your children each morning, guide their learning and care for their well-being. We are CSEA, the teachers, and the heart of D-11.

When the board dissolved its relationship with us, it didn’t just break our trust — it created division and stress across the district. Stripping away our collective-bargaining rights and eroding job security while refusing to negotiate sends a clear message: D-11’s teachers aren’t worth supporting. This drives great teachers away and hurts our kids, who will lose experienced instructors and see fewer new applicants. Ask yourself, if you were choosing between a boss who supports you and one who publicly belittles you, which would you pick?

Let me be clear: This board’s actions are bad for students.

D-11 needs new leadership that values its educators. LeAnn Baca Bartlett, Charles Johnson, and Michael Carsten are running for the school board this year. Each has pledged to rebuild the relationship with CSEA and listen to the professionals fighting for your children, not silence our voices.

This fall, CSEA teachers will fight to defend our professional dignity — and to ensure the best possible future for your kids. We hope we can count on your support when the ballots arrive.

Talsen Dobyns

Colorado Springs

CPA requirement for city auditor

I am writing to express my opinion concerning the upcoming final vote to remove the CPA requirement for the position of city auditor. Over the past weeks, I have been following this issue in The Gazette. I thought that surely the council will not vote to eliminate this basic qualification, particularly since Ms. Lovell committed to obtaining this certification as a condition of her employment. You can then well imagine my surprise when the council voted 8-1 to eliminate this qualification, letting Ms. Lovell off the hook for obtaining this basic certification related to her position. I believe that eliminating this qualification is not in the best interests of the city and will have deleterious second and third order effects, paving the way for the hiring of unqualified individuals in other positions of responsibility. For the good of the city, and in support of basic fairness, I urge the City Council members to vote NO in the final vote on Tuesday.

Dr. Robert Craig

Colorado Springs

Dumbing down the position

Council members: Please do not eliminate the CPA certification for the City Auditor. Why does such an important position need to be “dumbed down”? I learned that Ms Lovell justified removing the CPA requirement less than three months after taking on the position even though agreeing to the requirement. The short period between the appointment and the request to eliminate the CPA requirement suggests that she didn’t intend to meet the requirement in the first place.

Employees with the CPA certification is very worthwhile for employers despite council member Nancy Henjum stating that “spending her time working on the CPA is not particularly a beneficial use of her time”. A CPA has knowledge and expertise in the areas of testing, which are business analysis and reporting, information systems and controls, tax compliance and planning, financial accounting and reporting, regulation as well as auditing. In addition, CPAs are held to high moral and ethical standards, as well as continuing education (CE) requirements, and can lose their license for violating these standards and CE requirements.

A CPA certification indicates a person is well-rounded to work in the world of business and government. A CPA licensure also demands a higher pay scale — but I see Ms. Lovell has already reached a very high pay scale. Granted, an employee can have vast experience, but that doesn’t substitute for experience with a certification.

I’m a retired CPA. I passed the exam while working a full-time job and raising a family at the same time. It’s called adulting. Also, please give careful attention to the comments from the previous city auditors who served us well.

Constance Lievrouw

Colorado Springs

Addressing the state fi

nancial crisis

Colorado faces a critical $1.2 billion budget deficit, demanding immediate legislative action when the General Assembly convenes in special session This crisis requires our elected officials to demonstrate fiscal responsibility and focus on addressing our state’s financial emergency.

Unfortunately, Sens. Dylan Roberts (D-08) and Marc Catlin (R-05) are exploiting this budget crisis to advance personal agendas against Colorado’s voter-approved wolf restoration program through bill 25B-0010.01. Rather than concentrating on the massive budget shortfall, these legislators are wasting precious time and resources attacking a program that Colorado voters overwhelmingly supported through the democratic process.

Their proposal represents a thinly disguised assault on the will of Colorado citizens, masquerading as a cost-saving measure while offering only trivial savings compared to our $1.2 billion deficit. The wolf reintroduction program remains widely popular among Coloradans, evidenced by nearly $1 million raised through “Born to be Wild” license plates over the past two years. This grassroots support demonstrates our residents’ commitment to wildlife restoration.

If Roberts and Catlin genuinely wanted to help solve our budget crisis, they could investigate compensation program abuses, pursue new funding sources for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, or encourage coexistence strategies between livestock operators and wildlife. Instead, they’re engaging in partisan tactics that mirror previous failed attempts to undermine voter-approved initiatives.

Colorado’s livestock industry benefits from subsidized grazing fees on public lands and compensation programs for wolf-related losses. These measures create a balanced framework supporting both agriculture and wildlife conservation. Our legislators must treat this budget emergency with appropriate seriousness. Personal grievance bills rooted in misinformation undermine collective problem-solving efforts and distract from addressing our state’s real financial challenges.

It’s time for legislators to respect the democratic process, honor voter mandates and focus exclusively on a pragmatic budget.

David Hand

Fountain