Two ballot measures will help fund D-60 schools in Pueblo if approved in November

Students and staff in Pueblo District 60 returned to the classroom Monday, three months after teachers went on strike for a week demanding more money.

While the district and teachers union came to an agreement, it was always viewed as a somewhat short-term solution. Now two ballot measures will be put to a vote in the November election promising to raise more funds for schools and teachers.

The Pueblo Board of Education President Barb Clementi says the district is trying to get a measure on the ballot to raise millions of dollars worth of funding. Clementi says, “The Mill Levy is an opportunity for us as a community to invest in ourselves, in our kids.”

If approved by voters, the measure would bring in $6 million annually by raising property taxes. It equates to a little more than $40 a year for those who have a $100,000 home. It would give teachers about $1,000 more a year and also help repair school infrastructure. While it sounds like a good deal, Suzanne Etheridge the President of the Pueblo Education Association says the union is not completely sold on the levy just yet. “We have some serious concerns and we have not had those resolved,” Etheridge says, “We are not coming out in favor of it as an organization just yet simply because we don’t believe there has been a broad enough community conversation about a mill levy override.”

The other issue with the levy is the board voted on it only four months before the election giving them very little time to promote it. Clementi says she is not too worried about the time crunch,”You can work and work and work, but that’s not going to guarantee success. You can put a good hard, 90 or 80 days into a campaign and have terrific success.”

The mill levy faces one other major hurdle. Both the Board of Education and Teacher’s Union say that Pueblo voters typically vote ‘no’ on anything that deals with property taxes. Saying the last time they tried was ten years ago.

The other measure to raise money for schools in Amendment 73. A state-wide initiative that if approved, would raise taxes on Colorado Corporations and those making $150,000 or more a year. Etheridge says it has the possibility of bringing in more money to Pueblo than the levy. “For a district like our size, tens of millions of dollars into the district,” Etheridge says, “Somewhere between 20 to 25 million dollars.” That more than doubles the amount of money the levy is aiming for. It will be up to the voters to decide if both measures go through.