“Yes” on these local school tax increases

In every Colorado election droves of school districts ask their local residents for more money. This year at least six districts in the Denver metro area are asking their voters to increase taxes for increasing teacher pay, additional counselors in schools to handle mental health services, upgrading school facilities and even adding afterschool programing.

The driving force behind these local tax requests isn’t greedy administrators or misplaced spending priorities; it’s the fact that state contributions to our education system have failed to keep up with needs.

In Colorado the funding sources for our schools has flipped in recent decades with the bulk of resources now coming from local taxes instead of from the state. Love it or hate it, the end result has been a horribly inequitable education system where districts and students have suffered if voters are loathe to increase taxes.

Teachers choose to drive, sometimes significant distances, to work in districts that pay better. Parents buy houses in districts with better educational outcomes. Both factors can drive up home values in wellfunded districts which in return means more funding for the school district. It’s a brutal cycle that has played out to the extreme in some communities.

For Coloradans who have local school funding measures on their ballots, these are arguably the most important questions those voters will face.

There are certainly examples of school districts misusing taxpayer dollars. The superintendent of Mesa County Valley School District was fired this year after his plan to reduce costs by realigning central administration was revealed to actually increase salaries and cost more than $1.2 million. The damage that story has done cannot be overstated. Mesa County is a taxadverse community that had just generously approved a mill levy override for a district badly in need.

It was a shocking example of mismanagement, but the good news is that the excellent investigative work of reporters at The Daily Sentinel paid off and the school Ballot Measure 5A in Aurora Public School District is asking for a $35 million mill levy override that would cost a homeowner almost $100 for every $100,000 in assessed home value. The money would be spent on mental health, teacher salaries, after school programs and adding seat belts to buses.

Ballot Issue 5C in Adams 12 is asking for a $27 million mill levy override that would add $78 per $100,000 in home value. The money would go to paying for highquality teachers and staff, instructional programs and classroom resources.

Ballot Questions 5A and 5B in Douglas County are asking for $250 million in bonds to replace expirng bond capacity (meaning taxes would not be increased but also wouldn’t go down if approved); and a $40 million mill levy override for teacher and staff salaries and hiring more counselors. It would cost an additional $44 per $100,000 of home value.

Ballot Questions 5A and 5B Jefferson County are seeking a $567 million bond issue for school construction and repairs and a $33 million mill levy override for teachers salaries. The tax increases would add $47 per $100,000 of home value. board held the superintendent accountable.

Our school districts must do better. And most do.

We cannot punish students — those who are currently toiling away in crowded classrooms with meager resources — by withholding the funding needed to ensure they get a quality education out of fear of misuse by adults in the central districts. We must give schools the money they need and hold districts accountable.

Every year a school is forced to operate on fumes is a year of missed opportunity for thousands of students.

Voters have the opportunity to say “yes” this year to better schools, better education and better programs. We have looked into these four tax requests and know that while some of them might stretch the pocket book, they are worth the investment. Members of The Denver Post’s editorial board are Megan Schrader, editor of the editorial pages; Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor; Justin Mock, CFO; Bill Reynolds, vice president of circulation and production; Bob Kinney, vice president of information technology; and TJ Hutchinson, systems editor.