Colorado said NO to slashing taxes and slashing public services; no to dismantling our schools, colleges and universities; no to destroying the safety net that protects Colorado’s kids.  Colorado chose public education and long-term investments in our kids and economy, over short-term, short-sighted individual gain.

As we look over the past three months, we’re proud of the work we did along with so many other organizations to stop the Amendments 60, 61, and Prop 101, but we regret that so many had to fight so hard just to stay where we are.   (In fact, on Tuesday, November 2, the Governor proposed a 2011-12 budget that’s balanced through K-12 per pupil cuts for the third year in a row and minimum 9% higher ed tuition increases.)

Our takeaway is this: “We’ve been on defense long enough.  It’s time to move Colorado forward.”  If you agree, click here.

Print a two-page overview of Amendment 60, 61, and Proposition 101 and how they would impact education.

Print a one-page overview of Amendment 60, 61, and Proposition 101 and how they would impact education.

Ways to Take Action:

Schedule a presentation at your PTA or community meeting.

Print a resolution that your PTA can adopt opposing Amendments 60, 61, and Proposition 101.

Volunteer to help others get informed about 60, 61, and 101 and what they would mean for Colorado kids.

Sign our petition to the Jeffco School Board thanking them for taking a stand against 60, 61, 101 and encouraging them to get the word out of their resolution all over Jeffco.

Are you looking for a different school board? Click here to urge or thank your local board to take a resolution opposing Amendments 60, 61, and Proposition 101.

PRINT RESOURCES:

1. One-page information sheet

En Español

2. Two-page information sheet

3. Sign-up Sheet …

Please return to Great Education Colorado 1600 Downing Street, Suite 100 Denver, CO 80218

4. Wallet Cards …

Can print using Avery #5390 cardstock (double-sided) or print on cardstock (double-sided)

“Your wallet’s not full without one!”

En Español

5. Resolution that your community organization can adopt opposing 60, 61, and 101.

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Great futures start with a great education, but great education will be impossible in Colorado, if Amendments 60, 61, or Proposition 101 pass.  Here’s why:

Background Information: In 2007, Colorado ranked 40^th in the nation in K-12 education funding, spending $1,397 per student below the national average.  And in 2008, Colorado was 48^th in the nation for our higher education spending per capita.  Since then, school districts have endured cuts averaging over $400 per student, with worse yet to come. Meanwhile, colleges and universities anticipate cuts of at least $56 million in state aid and rising tuition rates by up to 9% each year through 2015-16. This is the context in which Colorado faces the following three ballot initiatives – each designed to reduce spending for public services, including education.

Proposition 101

A statutory provision that would reduce several state and local government revenue sources including car registration, license fees, the income tax rate, and phone bill taxes.  If passed, the measure would:

• Cut the state income tax rate over time down to 3.5% from the current 4.63%.
• Severely reduce the primary state revenue stream for higher ed and K-12 schools – the state income tax
• Reduce several car ownership taxes and fees, including:
  • Cutting “specific ownership” taxes to – $2 for new cars and $1 for used cars – a 98% cut from 2009 levels.
  • Resulting in a funding cut of $250 million for K-12 education, which in Pueblo County School District, for example, would mean $158 less per student.
  • Reducing car registration fees back to 1919 levels of a $10 flat rate, cutting support for transportation
• Eliminate all state and local telecommunications charges except for 911

SUMMARY: If Proposition 101 passed on top of the already deep state budget cuts to public services, our state and local governments would lose over $2 billion per year by the time the measure was fully implemented.

Amendment 60

A constitutional amendment that would cut local property taxes in half and void local “de-brucing” elections, without providing any mechanism for replacing those funds. If passed, Amendment 60 would:

• Cut local property taxes for schools in half by 2020 – REDUCING local FUNDING by $1.22 billion – and would require the state budget to replace lost local revenue.  However, after $3 billion in budget cuts from 2008-10, the state government has no source of funds to replace the lost local revenues.
• Reverse local “de-brucing” elections in the 98% of Colorado school districts, where voters have chosen to let schools keep revenue above the constitutional “TABOR” limit.
• Require many colleges and universities to pay property tax for the first time.
• Allow individuals to initiate local ballot measures to cut mill levies. This means that public school supporters would have to fight efforts to cut local support for education.

SUMMARY: If passed in November, Amendment 60 would overturn the will of local voters, and lead to massive cuts and fees for our public schools, colleges, and universities.

Amendment 61

A constitutional amendment that would prohibit state debt or loans of any kind, and would make it more difficult for local districts to bond to build, repair or improve school buildings. If passed, Amendment 61 would:

• Make Colorado the only state in the nation that is prohibited from using debt to finance capital projects, including schools, higher education buildings and roads.  (This is the equivalent of prohibiting families from purchasing a house until they could pay the whole price upfront, without a mortgage).
• End the “Build Excellent Schools Today” program which has so far financed 63 projects to address critical health and safety needs in schools around the state.
• Prevent higher education construction for projects like the Anschutz Medical Center, and the recent modernization of the Auraria Campus – which generates jobs and local economic activity.
• End the state’s interest-free, short-term loan program for school districts.  Those loans ease cash flow problems that result from the timing of property tax payments.  The end of the loan program could result in a March – November school year in some school districts, causing massive disruptions to Advanced Placement courses and fall sports programs.
• Puts stringent restrictions on the ability of school districts to bond.

SUMMARY: If passed by Colorado voters, Amendment 61 would eliminate the state’s ability to address the health and safety of Colorado students, to invest in higher ed and transportation infrastructure, or to compete with other states for businesses and the jobs they create.

TOTAL IMPACT

If passed by Colorado voters, Amendment 60, 61 and Proposition 101 would slash our state and local government services by at least $2.5 billion.  This would result in even deeper cuts to education from preschool through higher education (and all other public services), causing a rapid acceleration in the current trend toward increased class sizes, elimination of educational opportunities such as classroom technology and textbooks, sports, summer school, after-school enrichment programs, and professional development for teachers.  Click here to find out how much would be lost in your local school district if Amendment 60, Amendment 61, and Proposition 101 pass on the November 2010 ballot (Source: www.lookingforwardcolorado.com).

Click here to get updates about Amendment 60, 61, and Proposition 101 and other education funding news.

Click here to Volunteer.

Amendment 60

Resolution in opposition to the ballot initiative ON LOCAL PROPERTY TAX REVENUE

WHEREAS, the _______________ Board of Education is a public entity that provides educational services to the children in the _______________ School District; and

WHEREAS, a ballot initiative to amend Article X, Section 20 (“Taxpayer Bill of Rights” or “TABOR”) of the Colorado Constitution, which will appear on the general election ballot this November as Amendment 60, would cut in half all local property taxes used for the school district’s general fund and provides no credible means to replace these lost revenues; and

WHEREAS, the loss of 50% of the school district’s local property tax revenues would devastate the public educations provided to this community; and
WHEREAS, the decisions by voters of this school district to override TABOR revenue restrictions would be repealed by Amendment 60; and
WHEREAS, any future voter-approved property tax for the school district’s schools would expire within 10 years; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 60 would defeat and reverse the decisions of local communities on how to raise and allocate local resources, including public education, and consequently, eliminate local control of local budgets, including those of local boards of education; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 60 would reduce the local revenues available to local boards of education and severely impact the ability of school districts to effectively maintain an infrastructure to respond to the needs of educating Colorado’s children;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the ________________ Board of Education officially declares its opposition to Amendment 60.

Dated this ____ day of _____________________, 2010.

Amendment 61

Resolution in opposition to the ballot initiative ON public borrowing

WHEREAS, the _______________ Board of Education is a public entity that provides educational services to the children in the _______________ School District; and

WHEREAS, a ballot initiative to amend the Colorado Constitution, which will appear on the general election ballot this November as Amendment 61, would ban the use of any kind of debt by the State of Colorado and severely restrict the ability of local school districts to issue debt or to utilize appropriate and prudent business practices in managing the finances of the school district; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 61 would severely limit the ability of local communities to determine the appropriate use of local funds by this school board, including bonding and other appropriate and prudent debt obligations, for building and other capital needs; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 61 would disallow state funding programs that provide the means for some school districts to have sufficient cash flow to meet operating costs during the early parts of the school year (due to the timing of the collection of property tax revenues), and thus potentially cause school closures or reductions in education services; and
WHEREAS, Amendment 61 would prohibit or severely and unnecessarily constrain the ability of local school districts to use appropriate and well-established business practices in their normal day-to-day operations, such as refinancing bonded debt at a lower interest rate and using lease-purchase agreements to fund office equipment and furnishings; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 61 would eliminate prudent and cost-effective state programs that assist local school districts such as BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) that permits many school districts to build new schools; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 61 would result in the elimination of the resources available for public education programs and cause further cuts in public education at a time when public education is already suffering from cuts in resources that diminish the educational services and opportunities available to Colorado’s children; and

WHEREAS, Amendment 61 could be economically devastating to the Colorado economy by eliminating jobs and deterring out-of-state companies from doing business in Colorado or with Colorado public entities, including school districts;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the ________________ Board of Education officially declares its opposition to Amendment 61.

Dated this ____ day of _____________________, 2010.

Proposition 101

Resolution in opposition to the ballot initiative on Motor vehicle, Income and Telecommunications Taxes and Fees

WHEREAS, the _______________ Board of Education is a public entity that provides educational services to the children in the _______________ School District; and

WHEREAS, a proposed ballot initiative to amend the Colorado Statutes, which will appear on the general election ballot this November as Proposition 101, requires the reduction of public resources and valuable public programs, including public education, by radically reducing certain specific ownership fees and taxes; and

WHEREAS, Proposition 101 would reduce the state budget by over one billion dollars, forcing drastic and unsustainable cuts to public education, as well as health care, and dozens of other critical public services; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 101 would cause school districts to lose specific ownership taxes, including losses of up to _______________ by this district; and
WHEREAS, current economic difficulties and the resulting budget cuts, including cuts to the State Education Fund, are already in violation of the Article IX, Section 17 of the Colorado Constitution, as well as the Colorado Constitution’s mandate that the State establish and maintain a “thorough and uniform system of public schools” throughout Colorado; and
WHEREAS, the budget cuts that would result from Proposition 101 would ensure that the mandates of the Colorado Constitution could never be met;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the _______________ Board of Education officially declares its opposition to Proposition 101 because it would cripple the ability of the state to meet its obligations to establish and sufficiently fund public education in the State of Colorado and devastate the ability of local boards of education throughout the state, including this Board, to adequately serve the educational needs of children in the community.
Dated this ____ day of _____________________, 2010.