DENVER—Gov. John Hickenlooper is trying to decide whether to back a ballot measure this fall seeking a $1 billion tax increase to pay for a new system for funding schools.
Hickenlooper told The Denver Post that he would “likely” support the ballot measure. But he didn’t pledge to campaign for it, a slight change from his earlier pronouncements.
The governor said it would be “crazy to put more money into the system unless you change the structure of the system.”
The newspaper didn’t say whether Hickenlooper considers the funding overhaul he signed into law last month sufficient.
Education advocates are trying to figure out whether to count on Hickenlooper’s full support to pay for the overhaul, a sweeping change to address years of complaints that Colorado’s schools are unfairly funded and underfunded. The changes take effect only if voters approve higher taxes to pay for them, a price tag that could exceed $1 billion a year.
The overhaul includes statewide full-day kindergarten and more money for preschool and at-risk students. The new law also calls for money to implement school reforms that were passed in previous years without adequate funding, including a new teacher evaluation formula that takes effect next school year.
Ideas for raising the money include a higher flat state income tax or a tiered system based on taxpayer income. Education advocates have submitted several proposals but haven’t yet said which idea they’d petition onto ballots.
“We have to make sure it’s the right one,” Hickenlooper said in an interview Wednesday ().
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Information from: The Denver Post,
