If Colorado voters turn down Referendums C and D in November, K-12 education will be on the chopping block come January.
This year state spending on public schools grew only 1.1 percent, its smallest increase in a decade. With skyrocketing energy costs, more than $100 million in court-ordered construction costs backlogged and unfunded mandates from the federal government, no reasonable person wants to see the schools suffer huge cuts as lawmakers try to carve another $400 million from the state’s budget, which will have to be done if voters don’t approve the measures.
That’s why supporters of the referendums should make the threat to schools part of the dialogue when they’re stumping for passage of the two measures. Until now, they’ve talked almost exclusively about the effect Colorado’s budget crisis has had on higher education. Amendment 23 mandates certain spending levels for schools, but colleges have shouldered more than $100 million in cuts in recent years.
But lawmakers say they’ll be forced to find their way around K-12’s constitutional protections if the ballot measures fail.
The public schools hold more sway with voters than higher education, as shown by poll after poll and historic voter support for most local mill-levy and bond issues.
The cuts shouldn’t be pitched as a scare tactic but as the reality of what’s ahead if the state’s budget crisis isn’t fixed.
