Colorado Education Tax Initiative Fails

So much for California as the country's role model

A ballot measure to raise income taxes to fund education in Colorado failed by a wide margin Tuesday, two years after state voters rejected a similar plan to increase taxes for schools.

Roughly 66% of voters had rejected the tax proposal, with 85% of Colorado precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. The measure, known as Amendment 66, would have raised close to $1 billion a year for schools and overhauled the way the state assigns money to school districts.

The measure had attracted national attention from political observers who saw it as a test of whether tax increases tied to education reform had a better chance of passing.

"Coloradans recognize that now is not the time to raise taxes," said Kelly Maher, a member of Coloradans for Real Education Reform, a group that opposed the new tax. "We need real education reform before Coloradans are going to reach into their pocketbook and give any more money."