On November 3rd, 2013, The New York Times published the article "Colorado Is Asking Taxpayers for $1 Billion to Help Schools", where author Jack Healy informs the public that Colorado is in need for money to improve education. According to Education Week, Colorado ranks among the bottom 10 states where the education system is slightly behind the national average. There seems to be a growing gap between the wealthy and poorer school districts which forces more and more cuts. The support for the tax increase is also known as Amendment 66. This amendment would require Colorado to spend 43 percent of its budget on schools. In addition it would make full-day kindergarten standard throughout the state. More money would be available to be provided for students with disabilities, don't speak English or come from poor families. Opponents say that the tax increase would burden struggling families and small businesses. Commercials advertise that an average of $133 is sufficient to fund teacher's assistants, art and gym programs and early childhood development.
I am in favor of Amendment 66 because it would improve the current situation for students that are at a financial disadvantage. There will be more programs to aid students that are struggling in certain subjects. Hopefully that will encourage children in the poorer neighborhoods to stay in school and do well. This will also enable schools to purchase computers and raise teacher salaries to improve the way a subject is taught. Also hiring more teachers will allow classrooms to decrease to a more reasonable size. A variety in the curriculum is necessary to build a stable foundation for the future generation. Simply ignoring the issue will further damage the education programs and schools in the poorer districts. Teenagers with no future are more likely to resort to crime which will lead to more problems. I believe Colorado should definitely consider paying the small price now for the big change later.
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ReplyDeletere·form
ReplyDeleteriˈfôrm
verb
1.
make changes in (something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice) in order to improve it.
"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet." -Aristotle
In response to Cung Doan’s blog, Higher Taxes For Better Education?, I must start by asking him if he is a home owner that currently pays taxes into the Texas school system. My husband and I currently pay $10,000…. I repeat $10,000 a year in taxes in order to be a home owner. Just under $6,000 of those dollars go to the Leander Independent School District for children that I did not birth, to go to school. In 2012, Texas had 26,059,203 residents. If Amendment 66 were to pass in the state of Texas, it would increase each person’s taxes by approximately $38.00. When you break it down even further, it is obvious to see that the homeowner is the brunt carrier of this tax burden… their obligation will be much higher as many of our Texas residents who are not homeowners, do not pay taxes in to our school system. While I do agree with Mr. Doan that a tax height would help our school systems and I would in fact waiver toward the side of this type of amendment, I also would like more answers about what type of reform and progress this would bring.
Currently in Texas we are facing some very large issues in our public school system. We are embracing a ghastly growing population, a text book validity crisis, funding cuts that put Texas at or below 45th in the nation when it comes for funding for public education, funding distribution issues, ESL programs, adequate pay for teachers, testing standards and special needs standards. If I were to vote for an amendment such as Amendment 66, I want to know how the funding is going to directly aid education reform. Also, I would want to know more about how current funds are being distributed to aid all of these current issues. If fund are presently being misused, then more funds will be misused as well. Overall, I do agree with Mr. Doan but I am more interested in Texas education because not only is it the environment that my children will be in, but it is also what I pay for. I think it is important to hold our school accountable for good spending and expect that when we give educators more money, that it directly touches our children.