Once again, school finance discussions at the Capitol are incredibly challenging. The Governor has proposed a $45 million dollar increase in the Negative Factor as part of a budget that is $500 million dollars short of what is required to fund state operations. The December Revenue forecast further complicated the situation by projecting drops in local assessed valuations, required by
the Gallagher Amendment, which would increase the State's share of k-12 education by approximately $160 million dollars. Uncertainties around federal dollars are adding to school districts concerns and impacting policy discussions at every level. One thing is certain, our schools need more resources!
We applaud the Superintendents for their continuing effort to define short and long term funding solutions and hope to see consensus-based solutions that we can advance collaboratively at the Capitol and beyond. The JBC is considering a uniform mill levy proposal to decrease the state share of total program and there are various school finance study bills/ideas floating around the Capitol.
Rural legislators and school leaders are highlighting the need for more resources and demanding equity for rural students. The Rural Alliance
2017 Advocacy Agenda prioritizes the advancement of short and long-term solutions to the funding crisis. We have launched the Colorado Rural Advocacy Network to help spread the word and engage local communities to support this effort.
Read more about your rural leaders and the current funding proposals:
Representative Jim Wilson says voters would fund education, if they’re convinced (Colorado Politics)
Becker to work hard on school funding (Journal Advocate)
Superintendent Douglas Bissonette seeks to boost pay for teachers in rural schools. (Elbert County News)
Hickenlooper calls for common sense plan to fund Colorado's schools (Chalkbeat)
Education funding debate a top priority for Colorado lawmakers, but bipartisan solutions elusive as session starts (Chalkbeat)
Flexibility and assessment
We are cautiously optimistic about the discussions around flexibility and assessments this session. We expect to see several bills scaling back state testing and giving districts alternatives to PARCC in high school. We also hope to see legislation providing rural districts flexibility around licensure and other mandates.
While we don't expect to see much change in the state's accountability system this session, we will continue to pursue opportunities for innovative accountability approaches through flexibility provided by ESSA and we are excited by the incredible work being done by the
Student Centered Accountability Pilot (SCAP), a collaborative of small rural districts working to develop a more comprehensive accountability system.
Finally, we are awaiting details on the State Board's waiver bill. Discussions at their meeting last month indicate they will seek legislation requiring districts to report back to the Board on their progress and tightening the legal standard for granting Innovation waivers.
To learn more about these discussions:
Seven education storylines to watch as the General Assembly gets to work (Chalkbeat)
Five big education issues that got lawmakers talking (Chalkbeat)
Making use of waivers under ESSA (Brookings Institute)
All the rest...
Though we are only a couple of days into the session, as of press time, more than 20 education related bills have already been introduced on a myriad of issues including: requiring school districts to share mill levies with their charter schools (SB 61), expanding eligibility for counselor corps and behavioral health grants to elementary schools (SB 068), handgun safety training for school employees (SB 05), public access to digital records (SB 040), certification requirements for authorizers of multi-district online schools (SB 070), eliminating the 50% growth requirement in SB 191 and allowing high performing districts the option not to evaluate every teacher every year (SB 067) and increasing funding for full day kindergarten (HB 1042).
Click here to sign up for Chalkbeat's Capitol Updates, a great way to stay informed on all the happenings at the Capitol.
Where is the Rural Alliance on the issues?
The Rural Alliance Board has adopted the
2017 Advocacy Agenda to guide our positions on legislation this session. The Agenda was presented to membership at our Annual Breakfast Meeting at the Broadmoor last month, where feedback was gathered and incorporated into the final document.
We will be holding
biweekly legislative video calls via Zoom with our lobbyist throughout the session to guide our focus and positions. If you would like to participate in these calls please contact Michelle Murphy via email at
mmurphy@coruralalliance.org.
