Point CounterPoint: Funding for public schools
A vote for education equality
Celeste Thurman Archer
Amendment 66 could be the most important education vote for Colorado in some time. First, we were “Bruced” to levels well below what is necessary, then massive cuts over the last few years have compounded the problem. Colorado now ranks in the bottom quintile of states for funding its public school system. My family just spent several years in Arkansas. There they say, “Thank God for Mississippi.” Sadly, Arkansas can also say, “Thank God for Colorado.” Actually, so can Mississippi.
One of the most important provisions of 66 will be the inclusion of funding for early childhood education. Free, full-day Kindergarten will be available for all students, and preschool will be available to all at-risk children. Every dollar spent on ECE translates to a $16 return in reduced crime and social costs, as well as better preparedness for later learning. At one forum and discussion out of the more than a dozen I’ve now attended, I learned that for every ten students not reading at level by third grade, without 66 there will be thirty. Colorado’s youngest learners deserve better.
The transparency that is written into Amendment 66 is revolutionary. Other states are watching our vote, hoping that Coloradoans will make the wise choice. They plan to follow our lead in creating tools which will allow parents to follow dollars spent on their children. I will be able to log in to a website where I will see with specificity how the dollars allocated to my son are being spent. If too much of money is being used in ways other than the classroom, I will use my voice and organize other’s voices to make change.
This is the first time in 20 years that Coloradoans have been asked to vote for an increase in our income tax. Even after this increase, Colorado will have the lowest tax rate of all surrounding states except Oklahoma. This isn’t meant to compare for comparison’s sake, although it is important , but to add to the economic development discussion about the difficulty in asking businesses to make a move to Colorado when taxes don’t translate to better funding for public schools. Employers would find it hard to move employees and their families to a state where they see funding charts such as ours.
When you hear opponents talk about Amendment 66 being used to fund or bail out PERA (the state employee retirement account), it is a lie. To do so would be illegal and unconstitutional. The only way an argument could be made that Amendment 66 funds were being allocated to PERA would be in reference to the hiring of thousands of new teachers, thus allowing smaller class sizes and more one on one attention. Part of Colorado teacher’s pay package is a deduction for PERA – they do not pay social security. In Colorado, classroom sizes for elementary classes can reach 30 and beyond. In high school, Colorado class sizes are 35 and beyond. Do the math. Imagine evaluating meaningful writing for high school students with six classes of 35.
The Colorado Legislature now requires a set number of paraprofessionals in each school, but there is not enough funding for these “paras.” This year, Park Hill Elementary School’s auction will be working to fill a gap in funding of over $100,000. I’d like to tell you that it was being used for extra field trips, Space Camp or other such valuable programs I have seen in other states. The reality is that it’s funding the gap between what is provided and what is necessary to pay for the required expenditures.
One other very key part of Amendment 66 is that the dollars will follow the kid. As it stands, there is a student count on October 1. The money allocated to the child goes to the school where they are sitting on that day. In this transitory world, especially with a population of migratory and non-union workers who often have to follow the pay, districts can be left holding the bag for a student who is being funded in a different district. Or, some schools will hold students until October 2, and then push the more difficult or lower performing students to other schools. With 66, the school leadership is incentivized to keep the kid engaged and excited about learning in their school, thus improving and equalizing instruction for all students.
Reform and administration are key in Amendment 66 discussion as well. Some continue to believe that School Choice is anti-public schools. Choice creates a pool of opportunities within public districts to meet differing needs of students. There was a time when one type of school for all adequately met the needs of students. That is no longer the case. Five years ago I would have vehemently disagreed with myself. Being the mother of a school age child taught me that the choice supported by 66 is imperative.
I hear opponents say that monies will go to building administration. That interpretation is based on improvements made in school leadership – principals. In 20 years of teaching I have been fortunate to have had only two bad principals. Let me assure you, a bad principal has a direct effect on teaching and learning that is felt by the entire school community. Improving principals is not throwing money at administration, it is an investment in improving classroom instruction.
I would argue that education funding is the civil rights issue of our day. A yes vote for Amendment 66 is a vote for the democratization and equalization of our kids’ education which both the kids and the state deserve.
Yes to the concepts, no to the specifics
Jacqui Shumway
So many people I respect and value are backing this amendment, but I am not convinced they have done their homework. They are well intentioned and are telling us what they have been told is true. If there is one issue we need to do our homework on – it is Amendment 66.
SB 13-213 is 43,533 words long and 101 pages of text. Who wants to read all of that? But as citizens, we are being asked to give a very needed $1 billion dollars per year to education. We need to read more than the Blue Book. We need to see more than presentation slides. We need to open our minds and dig deeper than the commercials on television want us to. We need to question the answers that many have been told to give us. We need to read the bill that will become a permanent part of our Colorado Constitution.
I have never had to write anything harder than this piece against A66. I am a proud Democrat. I believe in education for all. I believe that TABOR has tied our legislators’ hands. I believe that neighborhood schools are important to building community and allowing our kids to walk and bike to school. I believe that the whole child needs to be taught through reading, writing and arithmetic – and science, art, music, and physical fitness. I want Amendment 66 to be the answer, but it is not.
Amendment 66 is the answer if we believe that public tax dollars paid to private business will solve the education issue. Because while the Colorado Constitution disallows vouchers, charters are the avenue to funnel money into private nonprofit businesses running our schools. Is it time to privatize our public education system? That is the real question with Amendment 66.
In spite of the problems that I have experienced, I still believe in public schooling. I believe that teachers are more important to helping our kids develop social skills than anything else.
I teach community classes and have run for the Denver Public School board twice. My students and community connections were all excited because they had seen commercials that they understood to say that Amendment 66 was going to “write into the constitution” art, music and physical education for only “$133 per year” and “reduce class sizes.” GREAT! I was ecstatic! They wanted to know how much of the $1 billion dollars from Amendment 66 was going to go towards the issues I had run on in 2009 and 2011. So I tried to find out by reading from start to finish SB13-213, the bill that Amendment 66 will make part of our Colorado Constitution.
Nowhere is art, music, or physical education specifically mentioned. Nowhere are class sizes addressed. Nowhere are special needs kids specifically guaranteed to receive the attention they need. There is no dollar amount given that cannot be altered. That means it is not guaranteed. You could say it is implied in verbiage about preschools, full-day kindergartens, longer school days, special needs, ELL or ASCENT. But it is not specified and therein lies the problem. Implied is great, but specified is essential to make it happen.
What is specified is how charter schools will have to address these issues. What is specified is how technology will be funded. What is specified is how capital construction costs for charter schools will be managed.
Am I the only one who wants to know which private businesses to which the $1 billion dollars will go (private nonprofits are still a business)?
To summarize: Any amendment to the Constitution needs to be more specific for Coloradans to benefit from education reforms. I appriciate the work and long hours that went into this legislation, but I just do not trust that the next set of elected legislators will watch over this carefully. I just do not trust that the 15-member audit committee (11 appointed by the Governor, 4 appointed by Senate and House leadership) established by this legislation will oversee these funds in a manner that will satisfy the will of the people.
We need to do more work if we want to override TABOR – keep the ability for taxpayers to determine a tax increase, but undo the “ratchet down” issue. 2013 is just not the year because too many issues have been added by this legislation. More work is needed to come to closure. I want to just trust that good will come of Amendment 66 but I have learned that to guarantee anything, you should have it in writing. Amendment 66 is not written down specifically enough for me. The long-term public education system may be decimated if we pass Amendment 66 in its current form.
A yes vote may make you sleep better tonight, but read SB13-213 and vote no to sleep better every night.