This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
A bill that would ask Colorado voters to put billions more toward school funding passed its first committee hearing at the statehouse Thursday.
If it voters approve it in November, the proposal would start to reverse what backers describe as a decades-long funding desert for Colorado schools. But voters would have to come around to the idea of raising the spending cap imposed by the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, known as TABOR, a historically unpopular proposition.
Democratic backers of the bill say Colorado schools have been chronically underfunded by about $1 billion dollars a year for more than a decade, resulting in a tattered education system where teachers are underpaid and burnt out, classrooms are overcrowded, and students can’t get services they need.
U.S. Census data consistently puts Colorado’s per-student funding in the bottom 20 states.
The proposal would ask voters to increase school funding by 2%, or roughly $205 million a year, for the next decade by letting the state keep more tax revenue that would otherwise be returned to taxpayers in the form of TABOR refunds.
“Right now Colorado ranks near the bottom nationally in what we invest in K-12 public education,” said Democratic Sen. Jeff Bridges, a main sponsor on the bill. “Not because Colorado doesn't value education. It's because our constitution artificially restricts our ability to invest in it.”
The money would be directed specifically at increasing teacher pay and retention, lowering class sizes and expanding career education, measures that Colorado educators say are long overdue.
“At my current school this year alone, we have had four teachers leave in midyear,” said Zelda Alao, a teacher in the Cherry Creek School District. “We cannot hire new teachers because of the funding.”
“Education isn't just another line in the budget,” Bridges said. “It's how a kid from any neighborhood, any city, any county in this state gets the chance to earn a good life. For too long we've asked our schools to do more with less. Now it's time for something different.”
The Colorado Constitution requires voter approval to make any adjustments to TABOR, which is why lawmakers have to go to the ballot to advance the plan, according to Democratic Sen. Cathy Kipp, another main sponsor.
“This bill does exactly what TABOR tells us to do,” Kipp said. “We are going to the people of Colorado and saying, ‘Here's the revenue your state already collects. Should we invest it in your children's schools or send it back?’”
But opponents argued the proposal is disrespectful to Colorado taxpayers, who in recent years have repeatedly voted to keep TABOR intact.
“If this proposal is truly good for taxpayers, it shouldn't require taking away our refunds to make it work,” said Jody Nickerson, a Lakewood resident who testified against the bill.
They also took issue with the proposed language of the ballot measure, which promises the funding will come “without raising taxes,” and does not spell out that it would shrink TABOR refunds.
“This bill is an irresponsible attempt to take billions of dollars of money out of our economy and grow the government,” said Brandon Wark, a blogger and former Greeley City Council candidate associated with Libertarian organizations. “This bill is dishonest.”
The bill passed out of committee over strong Republican objections.
“I would gladly put forth legislation to increase education funding by trimming the other discretionary programs that are currently allowed to tap our state budget,” said Republican Sen. Scott Bright. “I completely support fully funding education of Colorado kids. I just believe that this may be the wrong way to go about it.”
In an interesting moment of interparty dialog, Democrats said they would be willing to have a bigger conversation about budget priorities. But ultimately, they said, siphoning money from other programs isn’t feasible because there simply isn’t enough to go around.
“Bring me those cuts. Show me those cuts,” Bridges said. “Last year we cut all of the fat that we could find. It was the easy cuts last year. This year, it is the heartbreaking, painful cuts that keep me up at night. Unless we can find the extra billions that we need for K-12, this is the best plan we’ve got.”
