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Colorado students deserve the best public schools

Investing New Resources into Classrooms.
Without raising taxes. Vote Yes on NN.

Proposition NN will boost annual state K-12 funding 50% over the next decade to:

Increase teacher pay

Improve teacher retention

Lower class sizes

Invest in career and technical education

Without raising taxes one penny

Require Independent Annual State Audits and School District Transparency

When kids have passionate, qualified teachers in the classroom, they achieve more. Right now, Colorado’s public schools are chronically underfunded by $4,600 per student annually. Colorado ranks 43rd in the country in school funding. This means overcrowded classrooms as passionate and qualified educators leave the profession. Many never become teachers in the first place. Ultimately, Colorado kids pay the price.

Why is Colorado underfunding education so severely? The state’s TABOR revenue cap, first set in 1992, is holding Colorado back from investing needed resources into classrooms – even when it has already collected the tax revenue to do so. Meanwhile, the state’s population, economy, and student needs continue to grow, leaving our schools unable to keep up.

Proposition NN will give schools the resources they need to make sure Colorado students can succeed, putting billions of dollars into our public schools for better teacher pay, more one-on-one attention, and career training.

Making Critical New Investments in Schools.
For Colorado Kids.

Prop NN requires a minimum 2% annual funding increase directly to local school districts. Local districts must invest those new funds in the following areas:

Teacher Pay:

Colorado has the worst teacher pay gap in the country with educators earning 62 cents for every dollar earned by professionals with similar education and experience. Moreover, Colorado ranks 41st in the country for starting teacher pay. Improving teacher pay helps schools attract passionate and qualified teachers, reduce turnover, and improve instructional quality, all of which lead to higher student achievement.

Teacher Retention:

When good teachers leave, class sizes get larger, and children can’t get the one-on-one attention they need. Experienced teachers provide consistent, high-quality instruction that supports student learning. Keeping teachers in the profession also reduces the disruptions of frequent turnover, helping schools build stronger relationships with students, families, and their communities. According to the Colorado Department of Education, a third of teachers left the Colorado Public Schools within their first 5 years.

Lower Class Sizes:

Smaller class sizes allow teachers to give each student more individual attention and support. Students are more likely to participate in class, ask questions, and receive help when they need it, leading to improved learning and academic success. Smaller classes also create a more positive and focused classroom environment.

Career and Technical Education:

No matter where our high school students graduate from, they all deserve an opportunity to be successful after high school, whether they go to college or not. The world is changing, and we must make the critical investments necessary to set our Colorado students up for success. Prop NN increases funding for career and technical training opportunities for high school students, including AI, programming and computer science, and other well-paying career tracks.

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How Prop NN Works

Voting Yes on Prop NN will:

Boost K-12 funding by at least 2% annually for the next ten years, with these new investments required to fund increases in teacher pay, teacher retention, lower class sizes, and career and technical education programs.
- All new funds go straight to local school districts.
- The 2% increase is based on the prior year’s funding level
- These new investments cannot be taken from other critical priorities in the state budget.
Raise Colorado’s TABOR revenue cap by allowing the state to retain and spend revenue that it already collects in an amount equal to current state K-12 funding.
Not raise anyone’s tax rates one penny.
Require an annual publicly-released independent state audit so everyone can see exactly how these dollars were spent. Each local School District will also be required to post online how it spent the funds.

Within a decade, Colorado kids will benefit from a 50% increase in state K-12 spending from its current level - without raising taxes, without taking from other critical priorities in the state budget and by providing controls and limits to make sure that new investments end up in local schools.

Colorado voters raised the revenue cap once before, passing Referendum C 21 years ago – and it’s time to raise the revenue cap again to ensure we can give every Colorado student what they need to thrive.

Investing in education is investing in Colorado’s future. Strong public schools mean a stronger workforce, greater economic stability, and healthier communities. Colorado already collects the revenue. Proposition NN allows the state to use it more effectively to strengthen our schools and invest in our future.