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Letter: A world-class education

Over the past few decades, a growing body of research has affirmed that schools that are overcrowded, are deteriorated or lack modern science labs, computers, libraries and auditoriums make it difficult for students to succeed and harder for teachers to teach. Currently, Colorado spends $1,397 less per pupil than the national average. Amendment 23 requires K-12 funding to increase the consumer price index. Unfortunately, the index does not adequately take into account some of the items that are most important to school districts, such as energy costs for gasoline or electricity and health insurance — which have experienced double-digit inflation for the past few years. Just like it is more expensive to heat our homes or pay for family health insurance, schools have to deal with these skyrocketing costs while receiving low, single-digit increases in funding.

Our school district is seeking voter approval of a bond issue to fund projects that are essential to providing the best education possible for our community. If passed, the bond will fund renovating all of our outdated middle schools; safety enhancements in all of our schools; affordable housing for district employees in Basalt, Carbondale and Glenwood Springs; renovating the Red Brick Building at Basalt Elementary School to provide additional capacity for early-childhood education and child care; and much, much more. (Go to http://www.rfvbondtogether.org for more information.)

The Roaring Fork Valley has world-class skiing, world-class cultural amenities, world-class fishing and world-class natural beauty — shouldn’t we also have world-class educational facilities and opportunities? Please vote “yes” on 3B to help our kids have the opportunity to obtain a world-class education now and for decades to come! Also, please vote for Jennifer Rupert for the Roaring Fork School District Board of Education (District A). She’s a longtime local (and mom) who believes strongly in providing every kid the opportunity to achieve their full potential!



Jonathan Lowsky

Basalt