A conservative group claims Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn't understand a pot tax on the fall ballot because he said in a national interview it doesn't fund public education.

But Hickenlooper's office said the governor knows full well what's in Proposition AA, which earmarks the first $40 million in excise tax collections for school construction.

"Public education is not the same as school construction," Hickenlooper spokesman Eric Brown said. "The governor didn't say the money goes into the classroom. We know some of the money goes for school construction."

So, was it ignorance or an inartful explanation?

Kelly Maher, executive director of Compass Colorado, which first pointed out Hickenlooper's "shocking" comments, maintains it was ignorance.

"This is simply another facet of his poor leadership," Maher said in a news release.

But Democratic political consultant Steve Welchert said, "There's no 'gotcha' here," although he's sure that right-leaning groups will maintain otherwise.

Hickenlooper was asked about the tax in an ABC News interview, part of his participation in The Daily Beast's "Hero Summit."

"We're not going to take marijuana taxes and put it toward public education or anything like that," Hickenlooper said.

Colorado voters last year approved a constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana, which spelled out that the first $40 million raised by taxing pot would go toward school construction.

Hickenlooper opposed the legalization. After its passage, he appointed a state task force to propose rules for implementing the measure. The legislature then debated the recommendations.

Among the bills it passed was a measure about how much marijuana should be taxed, a proposal that Hickenlooper signed into law and now is on the Nov. 5 ballot as Proposition AA. Voters must approve tax increases.

Proposition AA calls for two new state taxes on marijuana: a 15 percent excise tax to be applied to the average wholesale price of retail marijuana when first sold; and an initial 10 percent sales tax on retail pot and pot products.

The first $40 million raised annually from the excise tax goes to school construction, with additional revenues going toward the cost of regulating marijuana.