Colorado voters Tuesday night rejected a massive infusion of funding for Colorado’s schools that was sought to deal with enrollment surges and funding cuts.

In all, voters faced an unprecedented $1.5 billion in local bond issues as well as a $1.6 billion statewide tax measure called Amendment 73 that would have increased funding for every student in Colorado.

But Amendment 73 failed by a 55-percent-to-45-percent margin, with 100 percent of counties reporting by Wednesday morning. It needed 55 percent of the vote to pass.

Amendment 73 has been advocated by educators as the best tool available to give more money to Colorado schools, which are plagued by low teacher pay, staff shortages — especially in rural areas — cuts in services, aging buildings and burgeoning class sizes. The state adds 10,000 new students each year, but schools haven’t kept up with the enrollment expansion, especially since the 2008 economic downturn, say proponents of 73.

Colorado Election Results

The Colorado Education Association and other education groups threw their support behind Amendment 73, which backers said stood a better chance among voters than previous school tax measures that failed. Massive teacher walkouts in the spring over funding woes caught the attention of the general public.

“I am sad this didn’t pass, but I guess we will be back next year, because the need is there,” said Mapleton School Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio.

Critics had attacked 73 as another needless tax-and-spend measure that would do little to help public schools.

“Clearly this election was never about who supports public education. We all support better schools,” said No on 73 campaign co-chair Dave Davia, executive vice president and CEO of the Colorado Association of Mechanical and Plumbing Contractors. “Amendment 73 was the wrong answer to improving education…it placed a hefty burden on small business and choked special interests.”

The measure would have created a graduated income tax for people earning more than $150,000 a year and would raise the state corporate tax rate. It also would have changed the assessment rate — the portion of a person’s property value that is taxed — for commercial and residential property.

It would have raised an additional $1.6 billion a year for preschool through 12th-grade education. That’s in addition to the roughly $9.7 billion in federal, state and local money that Colorado will spend this year on schools.

Amendment 73 would also have raised the base amount Colorado is required to spend on each student, and it also would have dedicated money to preschool spots, full-day kindergarten, students with disabilities, those learning English, and those identified as gifted and talented.

Besides Amendment 73, nine Colorado school districts were seeking passage of basic bond issues totaling $1.49 billion.

In Jefferson County, a $567 million bond issue for safety and security upgrades was failing Tuesday night, while a $33 million mill levy override was passing.

In Douglas County, which hasn’t passed a school bond or mill levy override since 2006, a $250 million bond for HVAC systems, safety and security upgrades, information technology and transportation improvements was passing.