DENVER - Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-Colorado) and other state lawmakers each got a special delivery on Monday.
A group of concerned parents wrote them a letter, hundreds of pages long, with hopes of convincing the governor not to cut millions from schools as a way to balance the state budget
The governor has proposed cutting $332 million from the existing state education budget. Last year, lawmakers cut $260 million from the education budget.
The parents wanted to make sure each lawmaker saw the letter with their own eyes, which is why they went to the State Capitol to deliver the letter to each lawmaker in person. They waited outside the House and Senate chambers and caught the legislators as they walked out the doors.
The letter they delivered is more than just a complaint. It contains a long list of personal stories written by parents from around the state, most of them about how cutting school funding will seriously hurt their kids' education.
Examples include schools where music and arts programs have been cut, or those that aren't equipped with modern computers or technology.
Christina Heil drove to Denver from Grand Lake Monday morning to help deliver the letters. She says she loves the schools her kids go to, their teachers, and the administrators. But she says she's frustrated with how large class sizes have become, and doesn't understand why lawmakers want to cut funding from schools when the student population keeps getting bigger.
"We can have a school that does operate on less funds but it's not ideal for my kid," Heil said. "We can keep talking and talking and talking, but until we do something, the kids are going to get hurt."
Officials with the governor's office said they're more than willing to talk these problems over with anyone who has them or anyone else who is interested. Though, right now, they say their top priority is balancing the budget and sometimes that means cutting programs the state says they simply don't have the money for.
Colorado lawmakers have to cut more than $1 billion from the state budget. There is an online tool where citizens can try out different options to balance the budget. You can try it out at www.backseatbudgeter.com.
The letter delivery was organized by two organizations: Great Futures Colorado and Great Education Colorado. They hope to get responses from lawmakers and plan to post them online.
(KUSA-TV © 2011 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)