On a recent trip to Grand Junction, I toured a beautiful child care center. The space was designed with details that made it a truly special place. A playground with toddler-sized play equipment, musical instruments, and a water play station all thoughtfully placed under a sunshade. Classrooms filled with beautiful furniture, toys, and books. A stage for performances on parent night. It was an idyllic space meant to serve low-income children and their families. Except, many of the classrooms were empty. Families were on waitlists, but federal funding freezes and state budget shortfalls meant the center couldn’t open those rooms, and parents who needed care to go to work were left without it.
Our state is in a funding crisis that is exacerbated by an unreliable federal government and our own tax policies. The problems are real, and it is clear that no one is coming to save us.
Not Washington. Not a surprise surplus. Not some better budget year that’s always just around the corner. If Colorado’s kids are going to get the schools, the care, and the futures they deserve, it’s going to be because Coloradans decided to act. And that’s not a reason to despair. It’s a reason to get to work, because if no one is coming, the power to change things is ours.
Here’s the thing. Colorado has a strong economy. But we tied our own hands. Under TABOR, when revenue rises above a rigid formula-based cap, the state must refund the difference, even while our schools, health care, and child care systems go without. That cap does not keep pace with what it actually costs to serve Colorado’s kids and families, so the state falls further behind each year. The result is a state that faces budget shortfalls year after year, and kids who pay the price in larger classes, teacher turnover, and programs that quietly disappear.
The good news is that Colorado has never been a state that just waits around. When we’ve decided something matters, we’ve led. We asked voters to fund Universal Preschool, and today about 70% of 4-year-olds participate. We asked voters to fund school meals, and today students across the state eat breakfast and lunch at no cost. Again and again, Colorado has met challenges head on and found great success in doing so.
Being innovative and bold doesn’t only mean launching new programs. Sometimes it means fixing the outdated rules that keep us from investing in what we already know works. This November, Colorado voters have two chances to do exactly that.
Proposition NN is simple: it raises the TABOR revenue cap so Colorado can keep money it already collects and invest it in our public schools. Nonpartisan state analysts estimate it would mean about $500 million more each year for K-12 education.
That money would go toward the things families and teachers have been asking for: smaller class sizes, more career and technical education, and better pay so we can keep great teachers in Colorado classrooms. For its first ten years, Prop NN also sets aside money for programs that support children beyond the K-12 classroom, the kind of investment that could help fill those empty rooms in Grand Junction.
It is true that Prop NN would reduce the TABOR refunds many households receive. But the state’s nonpartisan Blue Book estimates a single filer earning $75,000 would give up about $28 next year and $58 the year after—roughly a dollar a week. A well-funded school shapes a child’s whole future. It’s a small price to pay and an investment worth making.
Amendment 87 replaces Colorado’s flat income tax with a graduated income tax, the kind of system most states and the federal government already use. Under the new structure, most Coloradans would pay less in state income tax, while those earning more than $500,000 a year would pay more. Supporters estimate that about 97% of Colorado taxpayers would see a tax cut.
The measure is expected to raise roughly $2 billion a year for K-12 education, health care, and early childhood and child care. That’s a real, lasting investment in kids from birth through graduation, funded by asking those who’ve done best to contribute their fair share.
We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. No one is coming to save us. That’s exactly why this moment matters. The future of Colorado’s kids isn’t up to someone else. It’s up to us, and it’s on our ballots right now.
Election Day is November 3. If you’re voting by mail, October 26 is the recommended last day to send your ballot; after that, use a drop box or vote in person. Then take one more step: share this post and talk to three friends about why you’re voting yes.
In Grand Junction, there are classrooms ready and waiting for kids. Somewhere in Colorado, a kid is waiting for the grown-ups to show up. Let’s show up.
