The latest plan to fix Colorado K-12 education lost badly at the polls. 66 percent of Colorado voters said no to Amendment 66. By the way, the measure was approved by voters in Boulder and Denver counties (52 to 47 percent).
At a fundamental level the failure of the measure can be attributed to voters’ aversion to an income tax increase. In addition, its sponsors were unable to garner support among the business community, whose support was crucial to the measure’s passage.
This will certainly not be the end of the debate. Perhaps education reformers need to take smaller steps. More money doesn’t always guarantee better education; at least that’s how many voters see it.