No on 103

[KevDen2005]

And once again Colorado votes down anything to do that might actually help our schools.

I'm as conservative as anyone here but as a parent in torn on the issue when it comes to school funding. Colorado is always at the bottom of the list when it comes to school funding and I can tell every time I walk into my daughters school.

I don't mean to be that guy certainly vote how you feel is right. But I took a government budgeting course very recently that opened my eyes a ton. Colorado has legislation that mandates that certain percentages of nearly all taxes go to education and as of last year that was around 40 percent of the state tax burden.

I have numerous friends in the teaching field that tell me time and time again how misappropriated the funds are. I love education however, like everything I refuse to give them money if they can't use it a little wiser. I also say don't believe that bumper sticker that says Colorado is 49th in funding schools. We give lots and lots of money with federal assistance. This is also why the state cuts funding to other programs because there isn't legislation to maintain those programs like education in Colorado, however there is no real way to save money unless you plan on cutting health care.

Again, not trying to start a fight, just stating my stance and why I think schools are ridiculous to ask for more when they can't control what they have.

[Richard K]

And once again Colorado votes down anything to do that might actually help our schools.

I'm as conservative as anyone here but as a parent in torn on the issue when it comes to school funding. Colorado is always at the bottom of the list when it comes to school funding and I can tell every time I walk into my daughters school.

Are you forgetting the ballot issue that was passed several years ago that automatically increases school funding by 5% each year regardless of the inflation rate. Or, a bond issue that was passed in Jefferson County that was supposed to go for much needed new schools and smaller class size that was instead used for teacher salaries?
This tax increase is supposed to expire in 5 years. Have you ever seen a tax increase expire? We are still paying a "temorary" gas tax which was levied for the building of the Valley Highway (I-25) through Denver after the flood in the sixties. I pay over $300 per month in property taxes with the single most bite of it going to schools. When is enough a enough?

[tmckay2]

as someone who has half their family and friends in education, i can comfortably say anyone who still buys the line that our schools need more money hasn't been learning their lessons over the last few decades. MONEY IS NOT THE PROBLEM! in fact, money might be the problem in the opposite direction. schools blow money like no one's business and we spend way more on our schooling than any other country yet our scores are lower. and we increase our spending every year and what happens to the scores? oh yeah, they go down. the education system won't be fixed until the libtards stop holding everyone's hands and start treating kids in a way that requires them to take responsbility as well as themselves stop being lazy, unmotivated and feeling entitled. almost every single teacher i know, including family members, think they are underpaid. its a freaking easy as **** degree!!! tons of people have them! you are paid according to the difficulty and desirability of your skills. don't bitch after graduating about your pay, you should have known from the get go what the pay scale was. if you want better pay, you should have gone into medicine, or engineering, or some other technical major.

on top of all of this, in my opinion the biggest reason kids and education fails is the parents. parents treat their kids way different these days, not nearly hard enough on them.

[roberth]

Tax hikes for education in Colorado lose big

Read more: Tax hikes for education in Colorado lose big - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/election20...#ixzz1cYPoE4o5

[TSOTSI]

Leftists remind me of those con artists on TV at 2:00am trying to sell everyone on the idea that real estate is the road to the pot at the end of the rainbow.

[Zundfolge]

Also note that Colorado Schools already rank decently high (17th in the nation according to this group) and yet we don't spend as much per pupil as many other states that are doing much worse. See this chart (it's real big or I'd have IMG tagged it).


At any rate, a "temporary tax" is like "temporary herpes".

[cebeu]

Bring back dodgeball and many of our educational system woes would "go way."

[Inconel710]

My wife and I voted no as well. We were torn, but our son is in a charter school. We pay $200 a year for the extra field trips and put in time volunteering at the school . I'd rather see the school raise its fees than raise taxes - I trust the school to spend $ wisely. I don't trust Denver!

[jackthewall81]

School money goes away, teachers are paid less, good teachers leave for private schools or higher paying schools, and then because of the no child left behind act where schools get money based on test scores, the teachers teach for the test and omit the supplemental forms of education such as music, science, and the social arts. My mother retired from Douglas County School district after teaching for 30 years because people vote no on these kinds of bills just to save money from their own pockets. She lost her BRT job and was forced into early retirement. She basically acted as the assistant principal as well as helping special needs children read, she mentored teachers on teaching methods, would substitute for no extra money if a teacher called in sick, and taught night classes for teachers trying to expand their syllabuses. Now they have no one to do these jobs because people are voting away money from the school districts. Douglas County was one of the best school districts 4 years ago with some of the highest scores in the states, and with no money the superintendent left 2 years ago. They hired a new one for less pay and the schools are on there way to DPS or APS levels, which are at the bottom of the state in terms of scores.

Then white affluent parents move out of the district because of the decline in adequate education opportunities for their children, once they all move out who moves in?

I believe that public schools should go extinct and that private schools should take over, just because I am a believer in Bureaucracy. But the foundation to this nation is education. And that education is primarily public education as of right now. Take the money away from that and give it to other useless government programs, then we have nothing left. Technology advancements will be outsourced to other countries who qualify more engineers, scientists, and program developers. We will have a country full of arts degrees, and students who cannot get into colleges and a huge need for specialized services (we already are in need for them). Yes there are tons of problems with the public school systems, but it is the foundation of our country and it needs much more funding to keep this country where we want it to be, on top of the world. To be on top, we need to have the most educated and most well rounded children in the world and cutting public funding narrows the public education that our students can get. Killing our country from within.

My .02 just because my mother was a teacher, and forced into retirement because of selfish voters.

[Zundfolge]

If we could just get 3 concepts cemented in the minds of most Americans I think we'd be better off.

1) Economics is not a zero sum game.
2) Correlation does not equal cause.
3) A right cannot exist where it creates an obligation to another.

#2 is the applicable one here ...

Yes there are tons of problems with the public school systems, but it is the foundation of our country and it needs much more funding to keep this country where we want it to be, on top of the world. To be on top, we need to have the most educated and most well rounded children in the world and cutting public funding narrows the public education that our students can get. Killing our country from within.

Spending money on education DOES NOT equal better education. It just means at best we have a well funded bureaucracy ... at worse we have a giant black hole we keep trying to fill with money. In the case of public education we have a well funded bureaucracy and a well funded union machine that keeps Democrats in office (so they can continue to get more money from the people for the black hole).

my mother was a teacher, and forced into retirement because of selfish voters.

And I won't be able to retire at 65 because of selfish government bureaucrats (including teachers) that continue to steal half of what I make every year.