Education of our youth is critical to the growth of the economy!
Yet, Coloradans voted down Amendment 66, a proposal to raise taxes by nearly $1 billion to fund reforms in K-12 education.
Colorado voters support education, but Amendment 66 was overwhelmingly rejected for reasons that did not directly relate to the education of our youth:
- The Amendment would have become a drag on the state economy. It was not economically viable.
- Supporters conveniently misrepresented how Amendment 66 would benefit students.
- Other supporters portrayed the current K-12 system as being broken – there are problems, but it is not broken.
- As the campaign unfolded, the Colorado Education Association’s support of the amendment was clouded by the possibility CEA would file a lawsuit that would undermine elements of Amendment 66 if it passed.
- A surprising number of educators did not support it.
- Supporters of the amendment received over $10 million to run their campaign, including significant funding from out of state.
- LOTS of money was thrown at the school board race in Adams County. A week before the election, it was disclosed that one of the candidates, Amy Speer, was not eligible to run for her position because she didn’t live in the district she sought to represent.
As the campaign progressed, Amendment 66 supporters became more desperate and their credibility dwindled. Supporters tried to shame the Colorado electorate into voting for Amendment 66 because it was for “the good of the kids”. That was insulting!
When official votes are tallied, Amendment 66 is projected to lose 65% to 35%. To put the vote in perspective:
- In the 1964 presidential election Lyndon Johnson received 61.1% of the votes and Barry Goldwater received 38.5%.
- In the 2002 Colorado gubernatorial race, Bill Owens received 62.6% of the votes and Rolliie Heath received 33.7%.
- Eleven states voted to secede from the state of Colorado. Five of the 11 states voted to secede; however, Weld County turned it down by a vote of 58%-42% and the state remains whole. Said differently, there was a greater likelihood of 11 states seceding than A66 passing.
- Amendment 66 received a majority of votes in only 2 of 64 counties -it won by slight margins in Boulder and Denver.
- Amendment 66 lost by 60+% in 55 of 64 counties.
The loser in the race was not the kids, the state of Colorado, nor a few politicos.
Amendment 66 left the Colorado electorate with a bad taste in their mouth for the education process, the teaching profession, and those who advocate for improved funding or school reform. It time to address school reform in a sensible manner.
©Copyright 2011 by CBER.