Maggie Bryan joined the Denver7 team in June 2025 as a morning reporter.
Colorado voters could decide this November whether to redirect a portion of their TABOR refunds to public schools after lawmakers voted Tuesday to send the issue to the ballot.
Senate Bill 135 would raise the TABOR cap by the amount the state spends annually on public education, currently around $4.6 billion, allowing the state to keep more revenue to fund schools. The proposal would increase public education spending by 2% for 10 years and be used to increase teacher pay, address teacher retention, reduce classroom sizes, and grow career opportunities for students.
▶️ Watch: Denver7's Maggie Bryan breaks down Senate Bill 135 The Democrat-backed bill has support from more than a dozen education and community organizations, including the Colorado Education Association. CEA President Kevin Vick said the state's revenue cap is outdated and has prevented the state from fully funding public education.
'We're currently the least competitive salaries in the nation. So we're hoping to be able to to boost educator salaries,' said Vick.
'People are really tired of seeing their favorite teachers not being able to stay in education. 'Data from the National Education Association shows Colorado ranks 35th in the nation for average starting teacher salary at $45,489, while the state's minimum living wage is $74,205. The measure has drawn backlash from several groups, including the Independence Institute and the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, who say the proposal slashes TABOR refunds under the guise of helping kids.
'They use kids as a way to get to the heartstrings and take our TABOR refunds,' said Jon Caldara, President of the Independence Institute. 'No matter how often the voters of Colorado say, 'No, we don't want you to take more money,' they still find backdoor ways of doing that.
'The measure requires at least half of the annual surplus to go to K-12 schools, while the rest of the retained revenue can go toward programs that support children, including child care, preschool, and 'other programs that prepare children to be successful in school. 'Caldara said the bill's language is deceptive and would lead to increased government spending while Coloradans see less money on their TABOR refunds. 'We believe money should follow the kid.
That if you take a look at administration and how much we're spending per child, you'll see that we're never spent more money per child, and it's being eaten up by administration. It's not finding its way to the classroom,' said Caldara.
Kim Monson, the president of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, sent Denver7 the following statement in opposition to the measure:Rob Eberle, a high school English teacher in Loveland, pushed back on the argument that schools can find more savings through administrative cuts.
'Those particular arguments about cutting more and cutting more — I think districts have done that, and I think we're at a point where we just can't do it anymore,' Eberle said.
Kevin Vick Colorado Tabor Rob Eberle School Tabor Colorado Tabor Ballot Measure Tabor Ballot Proposal Tabor School Measure Tabor School Measure Colorado Tabor School Proposal
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