“We want to thank those voters who supported the no-vote Ballot Issue 2A. “Woodland Park residents who voted to keep the 1.09% sales tax demonstrated their priority on education in our community for a top 10% Colorado school district demonstrating academic excellence,” said Michael Perini, Registered Agent for the coalition.
Perini also thanked the WPSCC. “Their energy, dedication, and passion were off the charts,” he said. “This small group of volunteers were willing to stand out and wave signs in below-freezing weather and go door-to-door to inform citizens throughout our mountain town, not knowing what kinds of folks they would meet along the way,” he said.
Perini said these concerned citizens from all community sectors were willing to work together, which was a real bonus.
“Parents, business owners, veterans, senior citizens, and even those who could not vote on Ballot Issue 2a came together to put kids first,” he said. “Even kids were willing to show their support by waving signs, hanging door hangers, and being photogenic, with parents allowing the images to be used in campaign materials,” Perini said.
The goal of the WPSCC was to educate and inform Woodland Park registered voters. “We accomplished this goal with 80% of voters knowing about the ballot issue. Statistics we gathered during neighborhood canvasing,” Perini said.
“While many communities are now adopting the sales tax method for school funding, our community, one of the pioneers of this novel approach, decided to keep it,” Perini said.
“Kids and teachers were put first, and again, we thank everyone regardless of how they voted because, in the end, they were making their voice heard on local education,” Perini said.
Woodland Park School District has received the best ratings since at least 2010, which is CDE’s first posting of performance reviews. A 10% reduction in the District’s budget at a time when our children and staff are finally seeing ratings of distinction and have just recently jumped into the top 10% of the districts in CO would be debilitating.
Yes!
While Woodland Park School District is on the tail end of the declining enrollment bubble, it takes several years to stabilize that loss of student funding.
Additionally, when inflation is considered, CO is funding students at 1989 rates.
Furthermore, the facilities continue to need improvements and maintenance.
In the past three years, WPSD has made significant strides to raise staff salaries, to promote open enrollment and school choice for all families, to further strengthen the quality of education for our children, to keep activity and athletic fees to a minimum, to increase full-time qualified security guards within the schools, and to tackle several of the pressing facility improvements that required attention.
WPSCC Forum, October 23rd. Slides are available in the Documents section.
The teachers’ union, via an ad on October 30, 2024, with the Pikes Peak Courier, has taken a stance on Ballot issue 2A. When the teachers’ union is against it, you know it’s got to be worth fighting for.
WPSCC corrects the record for those still yet to vote.
TEACHERS’ UNION
Where has the money really gone?
FACTS
As described by WPSD’s business manager in 2016 and annually since then, 92% of sales tax revenues have been spent between:
1. The C.O.P. that paid down the property for WPSD residents and businesses.
2. Salaries and benefits of educators and classified/support employees.
TEACHERS’ UNION
Technology staff to handle needs in schools is minimal. Where are the updated technology devices meant to help students and staff stay up to speed?
FACTS
The remaining 8% of the sales tax, approximately $240,000, is spent on a mixture of technology and innovation (repairing/replacing laptops, server systems, updated classroom needs, etc.), security improvements, and building and maintenance (new boiler, roof leaks, paint, HVAC, grounds, you name it).
TEACHERS’ UNION
New curriculum was purchased without teacher input and less than five years after the previous curriculum adoption. Why the big expense without knowing the effects of the previous curriculum?
FACTS
Where’s the proof? New courses and empirically proven curricula were also purchased and adopted, with part of the 8% remaining. Just look at the results. Top 10% Colorado school district! This academic excellence is not possible without teachers’ support!
TEACHERS’ UNION
Building and Facility maintenance is minimal. When will the leaky roofs be fixed?
FACTS
The teachers’ union asks when the leaky roofs will be fixed. That’s a great question to ask if they strip the district of $3,000,000 in funding but expect $30,000,000 in funding to appear out of nowhere to replace roofs, old classroom walls, crumbling plumbing, and more. It’s a great question since the teachers’ union wants to strip over $2,000,000 from teachers’ salaries and benefits. It’s a great question to ask since the teachers’ union wants to eliminate funding that is paid to lower your property tax.
TEACHERS’ UNION
Teacher salaries are still below the bar. The recent 2% raise is a pay-for-performance tactic meant to increase productivity, but it was announced after the school year was over. Who is really getting the raise?
FACTS
Since the elected board took office in November 2021, staff salaries have increased by over 16% through raises and bonuses. Additionally, WPSD has covered an increase in cost and benefits. These cost increases are not one-year-only expenditures, although the teachers’ union neglects that a raise impacts future years’ expenditures, not just the year of the raise.
TEACHERS UNION
Why do so many teachers in Woodland Park plan to vote Yes on 2a?
FACTS
Again, show us your data! The teachers’ union in our area, with minimal membership, is trying to lead you to believe otherwise.
CONCLUSION FOR VOTERS
The real question is:
Why does this small teachers’ union want this district to fail and crumble so severely? Perhaps it is because, even though “we [the teachers’ union] are working closely with the PPEA for other methods of disruption” against this district and the “conservative board,” WPSD has skyrocketed to be in the top 10% of districts in CO, to receive two ratings of Distinction (first time), to see student-athletes and their coaches win championships, and continue to succeed far more than has ever been accomplished under the control of a teachers-union backed administration.
Check out our FAQs and more by scrolling through our website as we put kids first.
Learn More about Ballot Issue 2A. Please vote NO. Watch the Video!
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