Amendment 66
Fact Sheet
Background:
An initiative will be on the ballot in Colorado giving
voters an opportunity to invest further in education in Colorado. Over the past
four years, public school funding has dropped by more than a billion dollars
due to the lagging economy across our country.
During that time, Colorado has passed exciting educational reform
initiatives leading to positive change in our schools and school districts,
however these changes have increased the burden on our educational institutions
through unfunded mandates.
The new initiative, called Amendment 66, will come to voters on the fall ballot, and will
attempt to replace these lost revenues and implement a funding model that will
stabilize school funding. This
implementation will help districts cover the cost of programs for students with
specialized needs, and recognize the importance of early childhood programs in
the state.
Facts:
·
The ballot initiative, if approved, will return
Colorado to income tax rates similar to those in place in 2000, raise $950
million dollars for public education, and ensure that 43% of the state’s
general revenues in the future support K-12 education within Colorado.
·
Colorado currently ranks 46th out of
50 states in K-12 funding. While this
ballot initiative represents a significant amount of money and will lead to an
increase in income tax for working citizens in Colorado, the additional revenue
will only cause Colorado to rise to 41st out of 50 states.
·
If voters approve this ballot initiative, the
district would realize a little over $4 million dollars in new revenues
allowing us to eliminate deficit spending, and to further invest in
opportunities to address student needs and supports within our schools.
·
The initiative seeks to raise Colorado’s income
tax rate to 5 percent, a 0.37 percentage-point increase. High-wage earners
would pay a 5.9 percent rate on income more than $75,000, while still paying
the 5 percent rate on their earnings less than $75,000.
·
This year, the district is spending almost $1.6
million dollars in deficit to ensure that our students have access to critical
programs and to allow us to maintain small class sizes. Durango 9-R has notably smaller class sizes
when compared to other districts in the
state.
