Why Jeffco voters should pass 3A and 3B - #lakewoodnews

Why does Jeffco Public Schools need 3A and 3B?

The short answer:

Our kids need quality educational facilities and resources.

The long answer:

Old schools need repairs and updates.

The average age of our schools is 45 years. How many of us have replaced roofs, redone driveways, completed major water line/sewage projects, replaced furnaces, and made other big investments on our homes? Imagine the needs of a 45-year-old school that is well-used and hasn't had significant improvements in 10 years. Now, multiply that by the 155 schools in Jeffco that need work. In addition, we have high-growth areas in parts of our district; we need to have seats for the students of families that are moving into Jeffco. We know our buildings will be used for at least 50 years; a quality investment now makes sense. In the long run, it's more economical and we want to take care of the investments our taxpayers have already made in this county.

Good teachers, quality learning tools and technology prepare our students for the workforce and college.

Jeffco Public Schools has prioritized teacher compensation since agreeing to a cut during hard times. However, we don't have enough funding to be competitive in the metro area; our teacher pay averages 10 percent less than the seven districts around us. We need to pay wages that attract and keep the best teachers and staff. Giving our educators the resources they need to teach our students current, needed skills is important as well. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is in demand, as are trade skills and good communication basics. We need to teach kids with the professional tools used now and what they will be using in the future, not what they used 10 years ago.

State funding for education is low and likely to continue to be a challenge.

It's no secret that education funding in our state has been slowly declining since 1987, the last year that Colorado was at the national average for funding for schools. Colorado is now ranked 40th in per-student funding in the U.S.; approximately $2,200 per student per year less than the national average. To add insult to injury, voters passed a base funding amount for education via Amendment 23 in 2000, and since 2009, the state has not fulfilled that commitment by use of the "negative factor." That means Jeffco Public Schools has been about $80 million short on expected revenue each year since 2009. Though limited tax revenue from marijuana sales have been funneled into education, the reality is the amount generated is a fraction of what is needed and virtually no dollars have made it to our school system. It's clear we cannot count on state funding; asking for support from our county voters is a necessity.

Our 86,000 students and 14,000 staff have been stretching dollars, making do, and even doing without for years. It's time to invest in them.

Over time, a mediocre educational system is much more costly than $4.12 a month per $100,000 in home value. If we want our kids to be well-prepared, literate, knowledgeable and competent so they will be the successful workers, leaders and community-builders of our future, we need to provide high quality educators, resources and facilities.

Please support 3A and 3B. Invest in our kids, our future.

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://goldentranscript.net/stories/Why-Jeffco-voters-should-pass-3A-and-3B,236832?branding=15