From the Colorado Springs Independent: Opponents of Proposition 104, titled “School Board Open Meetings,” have their work cut out for them.

The proposed change, which voters will consider in November, would open school board meetings at which teachers’ unions and other employee groups collectively bargain with school boards. In some districts, those negotiations decide everything from working conditions to salaries and benefits. Many, though not all, currently are closed to the press and any other interested members of the public.

Prop 104 was brought and backed (as Initiative 124) by the Independence Institute, a Denver-based conservative think tank. Jon Caldara, its president, says its intention is straightforward. Teacher salaries and benefits make up the bulk of school district budgets, which are funded by taxpayers, so taxpayers should be able to see how those decisions are made, and see how such negotiations ultimately affect the conditions of children’s classrooms.

“It just makes no sense that this, one of the most important things a school board ever does, has been done behind closed doors,” he says. “I can’t think of any reason why someone would vote against this.”

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