law, passed in 2008.
* Though the need uncovered by the survey is overwhelming, it only underscores the importance of the B.E.S.T. program, which is currently responsible for the largest investment in school construction in state history. The first wave of B.E.S.T. construction under way is providing 600 jobs and brighter futures for thousands of children in the San Luis Valley. Great Ed is proud of the role it played with Children's Voices in inspiring the B.E.S.T. legislation through school tours in 2007.
* If deferred maintenance has been a problem in the past, just wait to see what happens when districts have to balance budgets with $600 dollar per pupil cuts in state funding.
* Perhaps most timely, this study indicates the utter catastrophe for Colorado's kids that would result from passage of Amendment 61, which will be on the November 2010 ballot. Under Amendment 61, B.E.S.T. would be halted, and the opportunity to attend a safe, suitable school would be permanently out of reach for tens -- maybe hundreds -- of thousands of Colorado's children.
Ultimately, Wednesday's report once again poses an all-too-familiar question: Is this the Colorado we want?
