What's at stake?
-- K-12 schools

Montana's public K-12 schools already have funding problems. They have struggled with inadequate state funding for two decades. Under CI-97 (SOS), Montana would never be able to climb up from the bottom in school funding. We would be locked in.

Lessons from Colorado
Colorado's version of CI-97, called TABOR, has contributed to serious declines in Colorado's K-12 education funding. For example:

Under TABOR, Colorado declined from 35th to 49th in the nation in K-12 spending as a percentage of personal income.

Colorado's average per-pupil funding fell by more than $400 relative to the national average.

Colorado's average teacher salary, as compared to average pay in other occupations, declined from 30th to 50th in the nation.

TABOR literally had a chilling effect in some Colorado schools. In Crested Butte, for example, the heat had to be turned down so low that children had to wear down jackets to school and take notes wearing gloves.

To make up for the loss of state funding, some schools have had to charge students and their families hefty fees to participate in sports, music, and art. Children of families who could not afford the additional fees were simply out of luck.

Source: A Formula for Decline, Lessons from Colorado for States considering TABOR, David Bradley and Karen Lyons, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, October 19, 2005

What's At Stake:

Senior citizens

Public health and safety

Local communities

Jobs and economic development

K-12 schools

Higher education

Montana's most vulnerable citizens

Agriculture