Chronicle Parker 5-24-13
Parker
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 11, Issue 30
May 24, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourparkernews.com
School finance overhaul signed Fate of measure will be in hands of voters By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
Members of the Marine Corps serve as pallbearers for Cpl. David Sonka, as his wife, Torey, right, is consoled May 16 at Mission Hills Church in Littleton. Sonka, 23, of Parker, was killed in Afghanistan May 4 and was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery.
A somber farewell Photos by Chris MiChlewiCz
Marines carry the coffin of Cpl. David Sonka from Littleton’s Mission Hills Church as police and K9 officers join in a salute. Sonka, 23, a Chaparral High School graduate from Parker, served in the Marine Corps as a dog-handler.
Members of the Marine Corps served as pallbearers for Cpl. David Sonka, 23, of Parker, a Marine dog-handler who was killed in Afghanistan May 4. Gov. John Hickenlooper was among hundreds of mourners who attended Sonka’s funeral at Mission Hills Church in Littleton shortly before he was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery May 16. Sonka, a 2008 graduate of Chaparral High School, received a full military honors and Hickenlooper ordered flags statewide to be lowered to half-staff. The Colorado Patriot Guard Riders escorted the flag-draped coffin to Fort Logan.
Event will honor fallen Marine Stagecoach Saloon hosts Memorial Day gathering By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@ourcoloradonews.com Ever since her son’s death, Julie Schrock hasn’t been shy about sharing his story. So when Maria Goodavage called to conduct research for what would become the New York Times best-seller “Soldier Dogs,” Schrock didn’t hesitate to answer a few questions. Schrock, a Lone Tree resident, had written her own book, “Missing Max.” It tells the story of her son, Marine Corps Cpl. Max Donahue, a 23-year-old dog handler who was killed by a remote-triggered improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in August 2010. Both books have given comfort to the family members, spouses and friends of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. On May 15, Schrock went to a viewing to pay her respects to Cpl. David Sonka, a Marine dog handler from Parker who died May 4. She ran into a grieving woman who was holding a copy of “Soldier Dogs” and struck up a conversation. It was Sonka’s
‘You’ve got to be out there because memories are short.’
Julie Schrock
mother, and she had been reading about Donahue. “There are so many similarities between he and Max,” Schrock said. Schrock has done her utmost to keep her son’s memory alive. On Memorial Day, she is helping host a public event at the Stagecoach Saloon in Franktown to honor Donahue and all military K9s and dog handlers. The gathering will include bagpipers, a 21-gun salute and a Harley-Davidson raffle that will benefit the Douglas County Veterans Monument Foundation. Proceeds from a silent auction will go to Englewood-based Freedom Service Dogs of America. Perhaps the most exciting part, at least for Schrock, is that she will be attending the
Memorial Day event alongside Goodavage, who has become a great friend and will stay with Schrock during her visit to Colorado. Goodavage found Schrock after meeting Benji, the dog who was with Donahue when he died. Benji, a K9 that was not expected to fully recover from the incident, was going back through training and getting ready to redeploy with another handler. “We thought she would be retired, but they brought her back to Camp Pendleton and she recovered,” Schrock said. “It’s miraculous, really.” Goodavage interwove Donahue’s story into “Soldier Dogs,” even beginning and ending the book with references to the fallen hero and Benji. Not only are the stories therapeutic, but milestones like the upcoming Memorial Day event at the Stagecoach are as well. Schrock gets to honor her son with those who want to do the same. “You’ve got to be out there because memories are short,” Schrock says. “They’ll forget, but we’re not going to let them.” To help commemorate those who have lost their lives while serving in the military, Schrock is calling on people to go above and beyond attending a public Memorial Day ceremony. She wants them to “make a conscious effort to fly the flag.”
Colorado public schools are a step closer to a major funding overhaul after Gov. John Hickenlooper on May 21 signed a new school finance act that proponents say would provide a long-overdue modernization of an antiquated school funding formula for classrooms across the state. But the governor’s signature doesn’t make the reform measure a done deal. Voters must give the go-ahead to the legislation’s price tag of about $1 billion in new taxes, something that Republican lawmakers are sure to rally against in the fall. If a vote falls short this November, the proposal could come back for funding votes through 2017. Hickenlooper, who was flanked at the Capitol billsigning by legislative coHickenlooper sponsors of Senate Bill 213, dubbed the “Future School Finance Act,” hailed the legislation as a way to “allow Colorado to vault to the top of every state” when it comes to school financing and transparency. “This bill really positions Colorado to be the national leader in terms of school reform, in terms of school effectiveness,” Hickenlooper said. The legislation would mark the most sweeping change to the state’s school finance formula that’s been seen in decades. The act would fund full-day kindergarten, provide preschool for at-risk children and would increase needs-based programs for special education students and children who are learning English. The legislation also would provide more funding for students who are involved in gifted and talented school programs. The bill would give school districts greater flexibility in being allowed the opportunity to have longer school years and school days, if they choose to do so. The bill also is expected to increase per-pupil funding for most school districts across the state by way of a funding system that supporters say is a more equitable way of divvying up money. Under the new formula, the state would determine how much revenue individual school districts are able to raise, with the state backfilling the difference. The state also would provide more support for local mill levy-matching. And, the bill would create a new teacher evaluation formula that supporters say is badly needed. Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, was the main driver behind the legislative effort. The former Thornton High School principal said the bill marks a “tremendous step forward” in making Colorado a school reform model for the nation. “Instead of forcing (students and teachers) to work in a system that was created before the Internet, email and cell phones ... they instead will work in a system that is built for the 21st century,” Johnston said. School continues on Page 8
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