Post Headlines Say It All
You don't have to go much past the headlines in Sunday's Denver and the West section to feel the pulse of school districts in Colorado: School districts' hands are tied on 'brutal cuts' reads the headline on the front page. The “jump” follows with: SCHOOLS: Nothing safe from cuts Beyond the headlines, the Post article sums up the larger context for Colorado — the facts that make Colorado's cuts more dire than those in most other states:
Colorado was already ranked near the bottom of kindergarten-through-12th-grade funding compared with other states. Now with the recession, major programs are being slashed everywhere.
The Post story gives an accounting from several metro districts (Adams 12, Douglas, Cherry Creek, Denver, Jeffco, Littleton, Aurora and Englewood) of a now-familiar parade of educational opportunities and resources that will be lost to kids throughout Colorado because of the state's funding shortfall: — Eliminating sports — Laying off teachers (168 in Douglas alone) — Imposing transportation fees — Imposing technology fees — Cutting foreign-language programs, art, music and physical education classes — Increasing class size — Closing schools — Adding a sixth period for high school teachers — Dipping into reserves, with little hope of restoring them
When will it get better? The immediate prognosis isn't good. State economists issued revenue forecasts today that will require $72 million more in state cuts for the 2010-11 year. In addition, assistance from the federal government has stalled, making it possible that another $200 million beyond that may have to be slashed from Colorado's budget.
Even worse, three initiatives on the November ballot (Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101) would decimate school funding even further if passed. Ultimately, this devastating trend will end only when the voters of Colorado decide together to solve our statewide school funding crisis with a statewide solution at the ballot box. Take a stand and add your voice to the growing network of Coloradans committed to giving Colorado voters that choice in 2011. Colorado's kids have waited too long already.
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