Amendment 73 would increase spending on public schools by at least $1.6 billion a year. Proponents say it is needed because Colorado school spending never recovered from the Great Recession. In fact, the legislature began appropriating more funds for education as soon as the Colorado economy began to recover. School spending is now at an all-time high.
Even though property tax revenues spent on schools have grown significantly, state revenues spent on schools have grown even faster.
Per pupil spending has also increased. What schools do is more important than what schools spend. It is unlikely that even more spending will cure what ails Colorado schools. Colorado reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have been at or slightly above the national average for the last decade, meaning more spending doesn’t necessarily equate to better outcomes.
Linda Gorman is an economist at the Independence Institute, a free market think tank in Denver.
SUPPORT COMPLETE
Our unofficial motto at Complete Colorado is “Always free, never fake, ” but annoyingly enough, our reporters, columnists and staff all want to be paid in actual US dollars rather than our preferred currency of pats on the back and a muttered kind word. Fact is that there’s an entire staff working every day to bring you the most timely and relevant political news (updated twice daily) from around the state on Complete’s main page aggregator, as well as top-notch original reporting and commentary on Page Two.
CLICK HERE TO LADLE A LITTLE GRAVY ON THE CREW AT COMPLETE COLORADO. You’ll be giving to the Independence Institute, the not-for-profit publisher of Complete Colorado, which makes your donation tax deductible. But rest assured that your giving will go specifically to the Complete Colorado news operation. Thanks for being a Complete Colorado reader, keep coming back.