August 05, 2013 11:41 AM UTC

"Colorado Commits to Kids" Turns In 160,000+ Signatures

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• by: Colorado Pols

Photo courtesy Colorado Commits to Kids

That's the news in a press release a short while ago from proponents of Initiative 22, the school finance ballot initiative headed for this year's statewide ballot with nearly double the required number of signatures:

Backers of the Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative on Monday turned in to the Colorado Secretary of State signatures from more than 160,000 people who support placing a school-finance measure on the November ballot.

“We’re not just delivering petitions today,” said Gail Klapper, director of the Colorado Forum, which has been working with business, civic and educational leaders for nearly two years to craft an initiative with broad, bipartisan support. “We’re delivering a message to our students and our businesses that Coloradans understand the best investment we can make in their economic futures is through our education system.”

The Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative will ask voters to approve a two-step state income-tax rate increase to pay for reforms that would make Colorado a national model for P-12 education…

Details after the jump. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:     
Monday, Aug. 5, 2013    

CONTACT: Curtis Hubbard
Curtis@ColoradoCommitsToKids.com
 
Colorado Commits to Kids delivers more than 160,000 signatures to Colorado Secretary of State’s Office

DENVER, CO – Backers of the Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative on Monday turned in to the Colorado Secretary of State signatures from more than 160,000 people who support placing a school-finance measure on the November ballot.

“We’re not just delivering petitions today,” said Gail Klapper, director of the Colorado Forum, which has been working with business, civic and educational leaders for nearly two years to craft an initiative with broad, bipartisan support. “We’re delivering a message to our students and our businesses that Coloradans understand the best investment we can make in their economic futures is through our education system.”

The Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative will ask voters to approve a two-step state income-tax rate increase to pay for reforms that would make Colorado a national model for P-12 education:

Step 1: On income up to $75,000, the rate would increase from current 4.63% to 5% 

Step 2: Any income above $75,000 would be taxed at a rate of 5.9% . 

Please note: Every taxpayer would pay 5% rate on their first $75,000 of income

In order to qualify for the November ballot, the Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative needed to gather signatures from 86,105 registered Colorado voters.  The Secretary of State’s Office has 30 days to determine whether Colorado Commits to Kids gathered the requisite number of signatures. 

About the Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative:

The Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative will modernize Colorado’s P-12 system by:

• Strengthening early childhood education by investing in preschool and full-day kindergarten;

• Ensuring Colorado kids have a great teacher in every classroom and a great principal in every school;

• Reducing class sizes to offer more one-on-one time between students and teachers;

• Increasing support for gifted and talented students, at-risk students, and English-language learners;

• And providing equal funding to charter schools and district schools, ensuring that students receive the same support no matter the type of school they attend.

Money from the Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative will be placed in the State Education Achievement Fund and can only be used for education reforms and enhancements to existing programs.

The Colorado Commits to Kids Initiative also contains unprecedented accountability and transparency measures. If passed, the state will be required to conduct regular reports to assess the cost of our public education system and the effectiveness of our funding efforts in improving student achievement . The initiative will also establish a state-maintained budget transparency system to  allow taxpayers to track spending at every school in the state.

For additional information, visit www.ColoradoCommitstoKids.com

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