To: Staff
From Dave Eastin
RE: CASB, CASE, Dwight Jones (Commissioner of Education) Believe in a Better Colorado plan
The changing economy puts new demands on Colorado’s public schools. Economists predict a future with two groups: those with the skills to participate in the global economy and those who lack them.
High School diplomas are more necessary than ever before. There will be fewer jobs for high school dropouts and more jobs will require education beyond high school.
For students to succeed, they must have a 21st century education that teaches them to reason, solve complex problems, work in teams, rapidly process good information from bad and speak a second language.
Quite simply, Colorado’s funding system for public education doesn’t support the goal to prepare all students for success in a knowledge-based global economy. Our children are growing up in a world that is more interconnected and interdependent every day. Yet we are asking them to learn 21st century skills using 20th century tools.
Stories like ours are common across Colorado. That’s why the Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Association of School Executives are teaming up in an unprecedented alliance. Believe in A Better Colorado is a multiyear undertaking to work with our respective members, business leaders, community groups and elected officials to inform Colorado citizens about our dwindling tax bas. The ultimate goal is to adopt a new tax system to fund public services that are critical to our state’s future-such as K-12 and higher education, health care and transportation.
Colorado must invest more in public education-from preschool through college-to meet 21st century demands. Measuring education spending as a percentage of personal income, only two states spend less than Colorado on K-12 and higher education, and only one state spends less on teacher salaries and benefits.
The tax structure must change by 2011-the same year today’s high school freshmen will graduate. That’s when Amendment 23 funding will shrink and the Referendum C ”time-out” will end, but arbitrary TABOR spending limits will remain.
What can you do? The solution must come from a shared effort among Colorado citizens. The first step begins now- to educate and energize our school district’s employees and school board members about the need to make Colorado a better state by more effectively funding essential public services. The next step is for each of us to share this message with neighbors, friends and others in every Colorado community.
This is arguably the most important task public school employees and school board members can do for the future of education in Colorado. Failing to solve this problem holds long-term consequences for a generation of Colorado kids…and for us. Today’s public school students will deeply impact our quality of life as tomorrow’s leaders and citizens of our communities.
Form more information, visit www.believeinabettercolorado.org