The Colorado Faculty Coalition Petition

Fellow Coloradans:

As college and university faculty members, we have become increasingly concerned about the future of public higher education in Colorado. Due to the combined effects of economic recession, budgetary shortfalls, and restrictive constitutional amendments (e.g., TABOR, Gallagher, Amendment 23), it is now estimated that state funding for higher education in Colorado will dwindle away in only a few years. This means that higher education opportunities for Colorado's next generation of scholars will soon be cut back severely. At a time when college has become more important than ever to ensure the success of America's youth, Colorado is faced with the prospect of terminating higher education funding in order to resolve state budgetary dilemmas. We feel that the TABOR Amendment, in particular, imposes onerous and, one might even say, unfair constraints on higher education: not only has TABOR reduced state higher education funding, but it has also impeded efforts to recover the shortfall. TABOR is literally strangling higher education by reducing state funds, while simultaneously closing off other avenues of revenue enhancement. Thus, if Colorado's public higher education institutions are going to survive, we must ease TABOR's stranglehold on higher education revenues. Thus, we call upon the people of Colorado to encourage our elected officials to resolve the higher education funding crisis. Let's work together to ensure a brighter future for public higher education in Colorado.

Sincerely,

The Colorado Faculty Coalition
http://faculty.colostate-pueblo.edu/timothy.mcgettigan/petition/petition.asp

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