Come this fall, all eyes in Colorado, particularly those in schools, will be on voters in the Centennial State as they head to the polls to decide the future of Colorado’s newly redesigned school-funding system. Voters there are being asked to approve a $1.1 billion tax increase to finance Colorado’s schools, an approval required for the funding reforms to kick in. The proposed system is a significant step forward in the push for more equitable school funding and targeted investments in essential areas such as preschool, full-day kindergarten, and teachers and leaders.
Coloradans, however, are not the only ones who should pay attention to the legislature’s efforts to improve school funding. The rest of the country should also take note. Many if not most of the other 49 states, and certainly the District of Columbia, need substantial school-funding reform, and Colorado’s efforts provide the substantive guidance, and more importantly, the political inspiration, to undertake similar funding reforms elsewhere.
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