The document discusses issues with Colorado's public records law, which has not been updated for digital records, making it difficult for journalists and citizens to access and analyze public databases containing government spending, salaries and other information. It proposes updating the law to require public records be provided in a digitized format when available. Concerns about costs and database integrity are raised but proponents believe digital access would improve transparency and accountability while reducing costs compared to current practices.

1. When was the last time you
used microfilm or microfiche
to find information? Does the
phrase “online bulletin board”
bring to mind that screeching
noise associated with dial-up
connections from 20 years ago?
That’s how long it’s been
since the Colorado Open
Records Act (CORA) was
amended to ensure access to
public records “kept only in
miniaturized or digital form.”
This section of the law, with its
tech terms from the 1990s and
earlier, is so antiquated and so
non-specific that it’s practically
useless.
Vital information about our
state and local governments
is stored in databases and
spreadsheets: salaries, bud-
gets, building permits, revenue,
spending ... the list goes on.
But requesting databases and
spreadsheets is a shot in the
dark in Colorado.
If you’re lucky, you’ll have no
problem getting public records
in a format that allows for
searching, sorting and aggre-
gating. Too often, however,
database records are released
in a format that makes analysis
difficult, or they’re not released
at all.
Remember, public money
pays for the creation and main-
tenance of databases used by
state agencies, cities, counties,
school districts and special dis-
tricts. These databases contain
information about how your
tax dollars are spent and how
government policies are for-
mulated and implemented.
It shouldn’t be hard for jour-
nalists and interested citizens
to get and explore public infor-
mation.
But consider Colorado State
University’s response when
the Fort Collins Coloradoan
wanted to scrutinize salary
trends for CSU employees. The
information is kept in a data-
base, but CSU officials pointed
the newspaper to 145 printed
pages on file at the university’s
library.
How did the Westminster
school district respond when
the former president of the
school board requested the
salaries of district employ-
ees? This being a decade and a
half into the 21st century, she
expected the information in a
spreadsheet. Instead, after four
denials, she was billed $745.50
for 2,982 hand-redacted pieces
of paper.
Just as the Westminster dis-
trict initially claimed, govern-
ments will say they are not
required to manipulate exist-
ing records in response to
a request. If the data set you
want contains something con-
fidential, like Social Security
numbers, you might be denied
access to all of the informa-
tion. Instead of excluding the
confidential field and releasing
the remainder, the government
chooses to release no records
at all.
Here’s another common and
frustrating scenario: You’re
given database records as a
PDF, which may or may not
be machine readable. To con-
duct any kind of analysis, you’ll
need to input the information
by hand or risk using a file-
conversion program that might
not work so well. In essence,
governments are forcing citi-
zens to recreate public records
that already exist and were
generated though the expendi-
ture of taxpayer funds.
Fortunately, two state law-
makers want to eliminate these
access problems. Sen. John
Kefalas, D-Fort Collins, and
Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver,
plan a 2016 bill that would
guarantee the right to obtain
public records in a “digitized
database format,” if that’s
how a government maintains
the records. Any confidential
fields of information would be
removed.
Although other states have
similar laws, local governments
have expressed concerns about
ensuring the “integrity” of
their databases and the cost
of providing records in this
way. But isn’t it less time con-
suming — and less expensive
— to remove a column from a
spreadsheet than it is to redact
2,982 sheets of paper by hand?
And how is the integrity of
government data threatened by
the public release of a copy?
A real data integrity issue is
that information might be lost
or garbled when tables from
a multi-page PDF must be
brought into Microsoft Excel.
By far the best solution is
for governments to proactively
post databases online in down-
loadable, machine-readable
formats. This helps govern-
ments be open and account-
able and saves the cost of
responding to repeated CORA
requests for the same records.
Many governments in
Colorado do this now, to vary-
ing degrees, but an open-data
law or policy would encour-
age this practice and provide
guidance as to which databases
should and should not be put
on the web, and in what for-
mats.
That would be 21st century
transparency.
(Jeffrey A. Roberts is execu-
tive director of the Colorado
Freedom of Information
Coalition.)
Next year, the Gunnison
Valley will offer even more edu-
cational options to high school
students. With the announce-
ment that the school district will
open the alternative school in
fall 2015, students will be able
to choose between four quality
options: Gunnison High School,
Crested Butte Community
School, GOAL Academy and the
district’s alternative program.
With those options, students
will be able to choose between
college prep, career readiness
and flexibility. They will have
the ability to choose the edu-
cational option that is right
for them. Not every child is
for every school and not every
school is for every child — and
that is OK. Just as adults are
given the chance to cultivate
their skills for their chosen
careers, our children deserve
schools that meet their unique
needs.
The Fordham Institute
recently released a report on
the “Best (and Worst) Cities
for School Choice.” Of course,
the Gunnison Valley is much
too small to make the list.
Regardless, the authors of the
report liken our school children
to plants growing in a garden
and state that “planting a ‘great’
bulb in the wrong circumstanc-
es cannot be solved by even the
most brilliant bit of engineer-
ing.”
Despite the enormous and
earnest efforts of our schools,
the four-year graduation rate
in the state of Colorado is 77.3
percent. In Gunnison, the four-
year graduation rate is 83 per-
cent. For many of our students,
something is not working. A
variety of school choice options
— public, private and charter —
can meet the diverse needs of
our students and improve out-
comes for our students on both
ends of the valley.
A student who prefers the
traditional classroom and social
atmosphere can choose one
school, while another student
who works full-time to support
her family can choose a differ-
ent school that offers the flex-
ibility to complete her studies
on her own time. A student who
plans to train on the moun-
tain five days per week might
choose an entirely different
option, while his counterpart
who wants to leave high school
with a diploma and two years
of college under her belt might
choose another.
A student who lives in the
Gunnison Valley deserves all
of those choices and more. We
may be small in numbers but
we are large in potential. The
Fordham Institute report also
notes that three ingredients
are necessary to make school
choice friendly: political sup-
port, the policy environment
and the quantity and quality of
choices. When the RE1J School
Board approved the alternative
program for next school year,
it offered its political support
and increased the quantity and
quality of choices in the valley.
All children deserve high qual-
ity, accessible schools where
they can thrive. Parents deserve
the right to choose the school
that is the best fit for their chil-
dren. The community deserves
the knowledge that all children
in the valley are receiving the
education that best serves their
needs.
The next step, in addition to
adding more education options,
is for stakeholders from all
schools in the Gunnison Valley
to form a coalition and col-
laborate with the mission of
improving academic outcomes
for all children who attend our
schools. We need to remove the
obstacles for students transfer-
ring between schools and add
even more options. Ultimately,
we need to tailor each student’s
educational experience to their
unique needs, even allowing
students to attend multiple
schools throughout the school
day.
Even though we are small in
population, we are incredibly
diverse. Our children and fami-
lies have the right to the alterna-
tives and flexibility that come
with increased school choice.
We should continue adding
educational alternatives in the
Gunnison Valley, as well as
creating a spirit of cooperation
between all stakeholders. Our
children will only benefit and
our community will prosper.
(Eryn Barker is the director
of GOAL Academy — an online
school in Gunnison — and is
a participant in the America
Achieves Fellowship for Teachers
and Principals.)
OPINION
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Where will you be spending the
holidays this year?
a) at home
b) on a beach
c) on the ski slopes
d) at work
e) bah humbug
In 14 votes last week, 71
percent of respondents said they
believe the new shuttle service to
Monarch Mountain will be well
utilized this winter.
Where Gunnison
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heard
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2015 Member2015
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015
VOTEMY
GUEST COMMENTARY
GUEST COMMENTARY
School choice a ‘win’ for everyone
Eryn Barker
Jeffrey A. Roberts
A 21st century open records law