Education is the foundation that holds not just families together, but entire communities at the city, state and national level. Schools, when properly funded and supported, create a better future for us all, equipping young students with the information, tools and insights they need to contribute to society.
Extraction Oil & Gas is proudly partnering with Aurora, Colorado, in ways that will benefit the community’s schools and children at a time when statewide education funding is at a critical tipping point. We’re deeply committed to supporting the cities, towns and neighborhoods where we live and work. Aurora — and its families, students and teachers — are no exception.
Colorado Schools in Need of Funding
Despite Colorado’s exploding economy, many Centennial State public schools are struggling to keep up with the ongoing surge in population. In fact, Colorado ranks 42nd in the U.S. in the amount it spends per student — $2,500 less than the national average, according to the National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Teacher pay is also disproportionately waning in America’s 12th-wealthiest state, which ranks 46th in the nation for teacher pay.
Meanwhile, Aurora schools have been particularly hard hit, as they’re part of a multi-municipality, 18,000-student district in dire straits — to the point where classes have been completely cancelled on Mondays. The shortened weekly schedule was rolled out in hopes of cutting substitute teacher and school bus costs by $1 million in the initiative’s first year. The four-day school week is taking a toll on working families forced to scramble for childcare and the resources to pay for it. Meanwhile, others are concerned that students aren’t being properly prepared academically due to missing one entire learning day per week.
How We Can and Will Help
We at Extraction Oil & Gas are helping Aurora schools and, by extension, the people and the neighborhoods they serve. Thanks to upgrades in technology, we can safely develop valuable oil and gas reserves deeper than a mile below the earth’s surface, generating royalties and tax revenues needed to stimulate the local economy and fund local priorities.
Our best-in-class development plan for Aurora will use pipelines to eliminate the need for storage tanks on our sites and take thousands of trucks off local roads and highways — all while paving the way for much-needed education funding for the city’s schoolchildren and teachers.
The tax revenue from our commitments in Aurora is projected to surpass $350 million (with $270 million going directly to schools). Best of all, most of these funds are expected to be generated in the first three to five years of production alone. This significant projected tax revenue will assist Aurora schools struggling amidst budgetary constraints and enable students there to return to school five days a week.
Support You Can Count On
From supporting schools at the local, grassroots level in Aurora, to safely and responsibly producing the energy Aurora needs, we’re dedicated to being outstanding neighbors and corporate citizens. We’re committed to investing in the communities in which we operate and where our own children attend school. We take our commitment to be a good neighbor very seriously. It’s a responsibility our talented employees take to heart, and to work, every day.
In addition to assisting several Colorado schools, we proudly support additional organizations and causes in the communities throughout Colorado, including The United Way, the Child Abuse and Neglect Charity, Colorado State University, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Greeley Chamber of Commerce, the Windsor Chamber of Commerce, Bulls on the Beach and many others.
For more information on how Extraction Oil & Gas supports the communities in which we work and live through a variety of corporate citizenship efforts, please visit www.extractionog.com/community.php.