In an era when the state of Colorado enjoys one of the healthiest economies in the nation, its public school system remains crippled with respect to funding. Investments in Colorado’s schools and teachers consistently rank as some of the worst in the country, and 60% of our districts have moved to a four-day school week to cut costs.
Colorado continues to fall short in its investment in basic services. As a result, our roads and bridges fall into disrepair while we ask our students and teachers to compete with resources that fall well below what most states spend on education.
As the legislative liaison for the Durango Education Association, I am working hard to inform educators and community members of the need to increase funding in order to properly maintain facilities while simultaneously attracting and retaining high-quality educators.
Our union’s leadership council is of the strong opinion that passing Proposition CC is an initial step in the right direction.
Proposition CC asks voters to invest money that the state already collects but is currently obligated to refund into three specific areas: transportation, higher education and K-12 education. My understanding is that it includes measures that require transparency and accountability with yearly audits and independent, publicly available reports.
This ballot measure will not fix all our roads and bridges or eliminate Colorado’s education inequities, but it will provide much-needed funding to improve learning environments for our students.
Mark Walser
Durango
