© 2024 Aspen Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
00000176-6d2a-dc2f-ad76-6d2a4f380000Real Time Election Results HERE. Join Aspen Public Radio for our special election series, October 15th- 19th at 6pm. The news team walks through the local initiatives, amendments and tax questions that will appear on ballots throughout the valley. You will also hear from candidates for county and statehouse offices. Below you can study up on the state and local issues that will be decided on November 7th, 2018

Local Schools Say Amendment 73 Would Fund Teacher Salaries

http://www.rfsd.k12.co.us

Local school districts say it’s tough to attract and keep qualified teachers because of the high cost of living and low school funding, but a state ballot initiative this fall could help.

 

Amendment 73 would raise funding for preschool through 12th grade, primarily through a new income tax that would apply to people who make more than $150,000 per year.

 

All local school districts would see a significant bump in state funding if this passes. Roaring Fork Schools, for example, would receive an additional $9 million, which amounts to about 40 percent more money than the district currently gets from the state.

Roaring Fork School District Superintendent Rob Stein said the biggest priority for that potential funding would be recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and staff.

“We’re going to increasingly be seeing classrooms without teachers who are qualified to teach those subjects if we don’t do something to adjust the wages of our staff,” he said.

 

The district is having trouble finding teachers who are certified to teach in certain subject areas, like math, bilingual education, special education and they’ve seen an increase in alternative licensures.

 

State funds for public education now come from property taxes; Amendment 73 would add income tax. The state estimates that about 8 percent of Colorado’s population would provide the additional funds. The Amendment would also increase the corporate income tax rate and make some changes to stabilize revenue that comes in through property taxes.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
Related Content