New Non-Partisan Organization Launched to Restore Common Sense to Colorado Law

First Challenge: Freeing K-12 Education from Quagmire of Bureaucracy and Legal Process

DENVER , CO – Today a bi-partisan group of state leaders gathered to announce the launch of Common Good Colorado, a non-profit organization which will be dedicated to restoring common sense to Colorado law.

Common Good Colorado will draw attention to those areas where our legal system is not serving the public well, and will work with others to develop innovative and practical solutions. This organization is the first state affiliate of the national group Common Good.

The first item on the agenda of Common Good Colorado is the “Over-Ruled Schools Project” to restore the authority of parents, teachers and administrators to take back control of schools mired in bureaucracy and legal process.

“Fear of litigation has undermined our freedom to make sensible decisions,” said Edward Dauer, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at the University of Denver . "Our legal system -- which has historically been a source of freedom for Americans -- has become too often a source of fear and inhibition."

Elaine Gantz Berman, former Denver Public Schools board member, presented two charts visually depicting the convoluted and confusing process a school in Colorado must navigate to discipline an unruly student or fire an inept teacher. Illustrating the over-legalization of public schools, the charts reveal that it can take months to remove a disruptive student. Similarly, a number of hurdles must be cleared before dismissing an incompetent teacher and doing so can take more than a year.

“Our schools are mired in bureaucratic and legal process,” said Berman. “As parents and concerned citizens, we must fix those areas where there are unnecessary excesses in the law so teachers and principals can focus on educating Colorado ’s kids.”

Common Good, a bi-partisan coalition, founded in 2002 by Philip K. Howard, an attorney and author of the book The Death of Common Sense, is advocating a basic shift in legal structures to restore the authority to make common sense choices.

Common Good has garnered national attention for its proposal to create special health courts to resolve medical malpractice claims. This proposal, developed in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health, has resulted in legislation pending before the U.S. Senate.

In Denver for the launch of the Colorado affiliate, Howard commented, “Common Good has had great success collaborating with leading organizations and institutions from around the country to come up with solutions to simplify, streamline and make America ’s legal system more effective. We’re excited about the launch of Common Good Colorado and are eager to work with them on their agenda.”

Howard will serve on the Board of Common Good Colorado. Members of the Colorado Board and an attendant Council of Advisors include such noteworthy state leaders as former Governor Dick Lamm, business executive and former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Coors and retired Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Luis Rovira.

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