Disclaimer: DSST does not endorse nor support any candidates but does support voter engagement and education efforts

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a big election quickly approaching! While so much of our time can be spent discussing the presidential election, there are also also many different items on the ballot this year that directly affect the work we do to serve our school community. 

If you don’t feel like digging into the blue book, there are several resources and ballot measures we wanted to bring your attention to:

Find information on everything that is on your ballot from our partners at A+ Colorado here.  

There are four ballot measures and a Bond Mill and Levy (4A & 4B) on your ballot that directly affect students: 

• Proposition EE | Tobacco tax: Voting “Yes” ✅ on the tobacco tax increases revenues for preschool, the state education fund, the rural schools cash fund, and the tobacco education programs fund.
• Amendment B | The Gallagher Amendment: A “Yes” ✅ vote on Amendment B will maintain existing revenues from property taxes and support existing maintenance of funding for a variety of state funded mandates, including education. 
• Proposition 116 | Decrease in state income tax: As school districts are already underfunded in Colorado, a decrease in the income tax rate will exacerbate the current school funding crisis. Therefore, a “No”🚫 vote will maintain existing state revenue streams to help fund education.
• Proposition 117 | Voter approval of enterprises over $100M: This measure increases the strain on the state budget and decreases resources for education in Colorado. A “No”🚫 vote will maintain existing state revenue streams to help fund education. 
• If you’re in Denver, you’ll see that a Bond and Mill Levy (Ballot Measure 4A & 4B) is on your ballot, which is “a $795 million bond that would provide funding to build and maintain schools, and a $32 million Debt-Free Schools ballot initiative that would provide operating dollars to fund priorities such as mental health, nursing, and special education supports.”
• Voting “Yes” ✅ on Ballot Measures 4A & 4B  will increase funding for Denver’s 79,423 public school students. 
• If you’d like to see how this increased funding would benefit particular DPS schools, click here.

We are aiming for 100% voting participation from those in our community who are able to vote. With that in mind, Bill sent an email to all families last week encouraging them to vote and sharing these important resources and information. 

Also, Cole MS’s very own Tim Nelson is running for the RTD board- check out his website!

If you missed our Brain Breaks, click here for the recording of last week's Ballots & Brews. 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Noah Stout at noah.stout@scienceandtech.org