Classes were cancelled last Thursday and Friday for many Colorado public school students as their teachers marched at the capitol building in favor of more public school funding. Colorado teachers join others who have walked out in Arizona, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky in the last several weeks. Though several of the recent protests have ended with pay raises, major improvements in state funding for public education will have to come through longer-term strategies, such as voting for candidates who support this goal, a point one teacher made when interviewed by The Denver Post. But in addition to voting for such candidates, in order to support education funding fully, Colorado needs to reassess the longstanding and notorious Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) and the ways it prevents us from additional investment in public education.
TABOR is a constitutional measure that imposes a limit on state revenue, returning funds over this cap to taxpayers—raising the limit requires approval directly from these voters. TABOR was approved in Colorado in 1992, and we remain the only state with such a measure. TABOR makes it exceedingly difficult to use additional tax revenues to invest in public services at higher amounts, including providing funding for public education in the way teachers are asking.
Analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities indicates that although the TABOR limit takes into account inflation rate and population growth, this formula has not kept sufficient pace to maintain public services and make new investments. Colorado’s spending on K-12 education fell in the 10 years following the enactment of TABOR, and these negative effects were felt in other public sectors as well. Voters even suspended TABOR for five years starting in 2005 because public services were badly lacking.
The Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI) has also been actively opposed to TABOR, arguing that the measure is outdated and has made it difficult for Colorado to benefit from the economic growth we have experienced over the past 25 years since its passage. CFI argues that TABOR prevents tax dollars from being sent where they are needed, schools being one of the major areas of need.
Funding for public schools is of huge importance in Colorado and all states. Many current and past students can recall using ancient textbooks and avoiding desks under leaky ceilings, and teachers are paid salaries that are all too often an insufficient living. More state funding will be needed to improve each one of these circumstances, and more funding requires a state tax system that better reflects current Colorado.
Teachers at the capitol last week also gave support to a proposed ballot initiative that would raise taxes on corporations and higher-income individuals to support school funding. Ballot initiatives such as this and votes for candidates in the state who prioritize public education in their platforms will remain important ways to get more money moving to teachers and schools in the long term.
But if Coloradans are really serious about improving how our tax dollars are used for public services, a major revision of TABOR is past due. As the state grows, so does the number of students in schools who should have proper materials and teachers who should receive pay that supports this career. Colorado should be able, like 49 other states, to use the tax revenue it generates to support public education and other services as much as it possibly can.
