Founded in 1995, the Colorado School Finance Project (CSFP) is a non-profit whose mission is to compile, collect and distribute research-based, non-partisan information and data on topics related to school finance for state and local policy makers.
FY 2019-20 School District Budget Concerns – April 2019 – CSFP asked school districts across the state about their budget discussions for 2019-20. We asked how districts planned to use additional funds, what are additional costs you are incurring, and what are you unable to fund with any additional comments.
State, District and Federal Share of Categorical Funding for FY 2016-17. In FY2016-17, Colorado’s school districts total expenditures for Categoricals was about $1.6 billion. The state funded about 31%. The district share of total expenditures for Categoricals was about 68%, about $1.1 billion.
Impact of Final Residential Assessment Rate Study on Local Share, Legislative Council Staff – April 12, 2019
CSFP Advisory Committee Meeting – West Slope – April 2019
April – What we’re reading:
- Districts in Debt: How rising teacher pension costs hurt school districts, States try to rescue pension systems from bankruptcy, leaving less money for classrooms and teacher pay, The Hechinger Report, April 22, 2019
- No Colorado School districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows, The Colorado Sun, April 12, 2019
- What Does It Take to Get a Teacher Interested in Rural Schools? A Field Trip, Jenny Brundin, Colorado Public Radio (CPR), April 10, 2019
- More Education Studies Look at Cost-Effectiveness, Sarah D. Parks, Education Week, April 9, 2019
What’s more important to a superintendent: a math program shown to give a bigger boost to students’ math skills in the next two years or one that gives a smaller improvement but fits the district’s budget for five years?
Questions like that have become steadily more common as school leaders grapple with years of shrinking budgets. Still, it can be difficult to understand the expenses that lie beneath an intervention’s sticker price or the resources that may mean the difference between a promising intervention working on paper and working in the classroom.
Coloradans were set to get a property tax cut. Governor Polis is mulling a workaround to stop it, The Colorado Sun, April 9, 2019
Updated trends in Colorado’s special student populations, April 2019. More information on student trends is available on our Student Trends page. Links to the individual information follow:
- Students receiving Special Education services
- Students learning English
- Students who qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch (proxy for poverty)
- Students receiving Gifted and Talented services
- Students identified as Homeless
What We’re Reading – links to school finance related articles
FY 2019-20 School District Budget Concerns - April 2019 - CSFP asked school districts across the state about their budget discussions for 2019-20. We asked how districts planned to use additional funds, what are additional costs you are incurring, and what are you unable to fund with any additional comments.
State, District and Federal Share of Categorical Funding for FY 2016-17. In FY2016-17, Colorado's school districts total expenditures for Categoricals was about $1.6 billion. The state funded about 31%. The district share of total expenditures for Categoricals was about 68%, about $1.1 billion.
Impact of Final Residential Assessment Rate Study on Local Share, Legislative Council Staff - April 12, 2019
CSFP Advisory Committee Meeting - West Slope - April 2019
Conference Committees: A Quick Review of the Options, Julie Pelegrin (originally posted March 29, 2018, updated: April 5, 2019, Colorado LegiSource
The Colorado School Finance Project updated trends in Colorado’s special student populations, April 2019. The individual population information is posted on our Student Trends page. Links to the individual information follow:
- Students receiving Special Education services
- Students learning English
- Students who qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch (proxy for poverty)
- Students receiving Gifted and Talented services
- Students identified as Homeless
What we're reading (April 2019):
- Districts in Debt: How rising teacher pension costs hurt school districts, States try to rescue pension systems from bankruptcy, leaving less money for classrooms and teacher pay, The Hechinger Report, April 22, 2019
- No Colorado School districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows, The Colorado Sun, April 12, 2019
- What Does It Take to Get a Teacher Interested in Rural Schools? A Field Trip, Jenny Brundin, Colorado Public Radio (CPR), April 10, 2019
- More Education Studies Look at Cost-Effectiveness, Sarah D. Parks, Education Week, April 9, 2019
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What's more important to a superintendent: a math program shown to give a bigger boost to students' math skills in the next two years or one that gives a smaller improvement but fits the district's budget for five years?
Questions like that have become steadily more common as school leaders grapple with years of shrinking budgets. Still, it can be difficult to understand the expenses that lie beneath an intervention's sticker price or the resources that may mean the difference between a promising intervention working on paper and working in the classroom.
- Coloradans were set to get a property tax cut. Governor Polis is mulling a workaround to stop it, The Colorado Sun, April 9, 2019
CSFP March Advisory Committee Meeting presentations
- March 2019 Economic & Revenue Forecast - Kate Watkins, Colorado Legislative Council Staff
- Q & A on Uniform Statewide School Mill Levy - Ken Delay, Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB)
School Finance Act of 1994 - Overivew of the goals set forth by the legislature and where we are today. March 2019
- Goals of the 94 Act. What did the system fund?
- Where are we today in meeting the 1994 School Finance Goals? Today's Education System
March 2019 Forecast - presentations to JBC:
- Colorado Legislative Council staff
- Office of State Planning and Budget
The Colorado School Finance Project (CSFP) created several reports about Colorado’s School District Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity for 2018-19. It is important to note that school districts have no control over what 1 mill can raise. March 2019
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2018-19 including an overall summary and detail by school district
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2018-19 Summary (portrait mode)
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2018-19 Summary (landscape mode)
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2018-19 by Assessed Value and type of Mill – includes pie chart and detail by school district
- Total Assessed Value 2018-19
- Assessed Value per Pupil 2018-19
- Total Program Mills 2018-19 - (mills each district levies as part of the school finance act)
- Mill Levy Overrides 2018-19 - (voter approved)
- Bond Redemption Mills 2018-19 - (voter approved)
A Tale of Two Amendments: The Property Tax Dilema - March 7, 2019 - ColoLegisource. Colorado LegiSource - An informal and educational resource for the Colorado General Assembly by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
What we're reading:
- A suprising number of school districts have switched to a four-day week - Market Watch, March 2019
- What we're reading: Five Facts to Know About Class Size Research - NEPC - National Education Policy Center, March 2019
- Colorado Rural Teacher Shortage - Teachers living in campers: How rural Colorado districts are coping with grwogin teacher shortage - The Colorado Sun, 3/7/2019
- In a booming state, public schools grapple with asbestos, leaks and four-day weeks, The Washington Post, 3/7/2019
CSFP February 2019 Advisory Committee Meeting
- Update from Governor's Office: Lauren Larsen, Executive Director, OSPB and Allie Kimmell, Governor's Office, Policy Adivsory
- FY 2019-20 Governor Polis' Budget Letter - January 15, 2019
- FY 2019-20 Hickenlooper to Polis Budget
- 2020 Fiscal Vision - Colorado Fiscal Institute, Carol Hedges
- Mill Levies: Craig Harper, JBC Staff, Chief Legislative Analyst (Education, School Finance)
What We're Reading: The Denver teacher strike is over. Now lawmakers are trying to solve Colorado's chronic education funding problem, The Colorado Sun, 2/15/2019
CSFP presentation to the Public Education and Business Coaltion (PEBC) on Gallagher and TABOR, February 13, 2019.
From Colorado Legislative Council Staff - February 12, 2019:
- School Finance - Potential Uniform Mill Scenario - Districts levy 27 mills or the number at which they are fully locally funded. This analysis assumes full implementation in FY 2019-20. Uniform Mill Proposal FY 2019-20 - School Finance Funding Comparison with Current Law - FY 2019-20 with and without Mill Levy Equaliztion (27 or fully funded) - Full Implementation First Year.
Report on the State Education Fund - February 1, 2019 - Colorado Legislative Council Staff
Presentation at 2019 CASE Winter Leadership Conference: Colorado's Hidden Treasure, School Land Trust for Colorado's Public Schools - 2019 by Advocates for School Trust Lands, February 2019.
The Colorado School Finance Project’s (CSFP) created several reports about Colorado’s School District Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity for 2017-18. It is important to note that school districts have no control over what 1 mill can raise.
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2017-18 including an overall summary and detail by school district
- Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity 2017-18 by Assessed Value and type of Mill – includes pie chart and detail by school district
- Assessed Value
- Assessed Value per Pupil
- Total Program Mills - (mills each district levies as part of the school finance act)
- Mill Levy Overrides - (voter approved)
- Bond Redemption Mills - (voter approved)
- This list of District Tax Effort and Fiscal Capacity with links
CSFP Presentation at 2019 CASE Winter Leadership Conference, All The Moving Pieces, February 2019.
CSFP presentation to League of Women Voters, DPS, February 2019.
Summary of Potential JBC Bills as of January 31, 2019 - Memorandum from John Ziegler, JBC Director
CSFP Presentation to League of Women Voters, Chaffee County: Why Money Matters, January 2019.
Supplemental Budget Requests FY2018-19, Department of Education, January 2019 - JBC staff document - subject to change.
2018 State Profile Data: Our annual profile information depicts changes in K-12 funding and counts (comparing the base year of 1992-93 to 2011-12 to 2015-16 to 2016-17). Data is audited so lags behind current information.
- 2018 State Profile Overview: 1 page overview of areas of concern for K-12
- 2018 Overview Charts & Highlights: 2 page document with highlights and charts.
- CSFP 2018 State Profile Data: About the 4 tables and Notes
- Table 1: Enrollment, Special Education, Free and Reduced Lunch, English language learners (ELL), Instances of Mobility, and Gifted Students
- Table 2: Number of Teachers, Teachers per 1,000 students, Average Salary (comparing CO and National)
- Table 3: Per Student Current Spending and Revenues
- Table 4: Relationship between State/Local Revenue for K-12 Public Education and Personal Income
- Notes and Terms: Footnotes for all tables are located on this page.
CSFP presentation to the Joint Education Committees on school finance- January 23, 2019
CSFP January 2019 Advisory Committee Meeting: Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) Update presentation by Capital Construction Assistant Board: Tim Reed, Board Chair & Executive Director for Facilities for Capital Management, Jeffco Public Schools and Kathleen Gebhardt, Board Vice-Chair.
A recent National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) report, using U.S. Census data, indicates Colorado's 4-year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) for 2015-16 is below the U.S. Average in all categories. The CSFP created a chart illustrating the graduation gaps between Colorado and the U.S. average.
What we're reading:
- Education Week: The School Improvement Gains Nobody's Talking About, Commentary - December 17, 2018
- Denver Post: Colorado legislators plan to overhaul education funding system critics say disproportionately benefits wealthy districts. High-income areas with low poverty rates would replace state education aid by raising property taxes under bipartisan plan. January 6, 2019
- Denver Post: Where's all that marijuana money? - Three part series:
- Where's all that marijuana money? State's pot dollars help schools, but maybe not as much as you think. Part 1 of 3.
- Video: Where has all the Marijuana Tax Money gone?
- Colorado communities pocket big bucks from legal marijuana, but threats loom for some. Part 2 of 3.
December 2018 Forecast
- Legislative Council staff
- Office of State Planning and Budget
What we're reading:
- Denver Post: Colorado Economy; Front Range a GDP force, 10 of the state's 64 counties account for 85 percent of engine, December 20, 2018
- Coloradoan: Sacrificing Our Schools: These 8 school funding issues will challenge Colorado lawmakers in 2019
- Chalkbeat: Dear Governor: Here's what Colorado educators want Jarod Polis to know about their schools. Additional information on our website about: Teacher Shortage, Supply, Retention
The State of Education, developed by the Education Leadership Council, December 2018, version 4.0. From the document: This document represents 18 months of effort from Coloradans across the state, led by the Education Leadership Council (ELC). The ELC was formed in June 2017 to create a vision and strategic plan for the education system, spanning from a person’s early childhood into the workforce.
School Finance Interim Committee Meeting 12/11/2018 proposed bill. Additional information on Interim Committees is here. Click on tab: 2018 Interim Committee on School Finance (HB17-1340) for additional information.
CASB Convention: CSFP presentation - School Finance: What's Next?
- Additional information on the Budget Stabilization / Negative Factor
- CSFP Timeline: School Finance and Education Reform
Joint Budget Committee: Education Briefing Documents for FY 2019-20
- Briefing Document for the Department of Education, Summary, December 2018
- Briefing Document for the Department of Education, Full Report, December 2018
CSFP School Finance and Education Reform Timeline - December 2018 Update
School District Election Results for 2018: Bond, BEST, Mill Levy Override (MLO), Sales Tax
- 2018 School District Election Report - Final Results
- Map of Mill Levy Overrides as of 2018 elections
Legislative and District Sample Budget Timeline - 2018-19 District Budget
2018 Elections - What do they Mean for Fiscal Policy? - presentation by Carol Hedges, Colorado Fiscal Institute at the November 2018 CSFP Advisory Committee meeting.
District Election Preliminary Results - 11/17/2018, 8:30 AM Subject to change as new information becomes available. Be sure to "refresh" your device to view the most recent update.
Amendment 73 Impact Calculator
- Colorado Ballot Information Booklet - 2018 Blue Book - Colorado Legislative Council Staff
- Text of Amendment 73 is Unambiguously Limited to School District Taxes - infographic
- Legal opinion refuting claims Amendment 73 would alter assessment rates for non-school taxing entities
- In support:
- Grand Junction Sentinel: Vote yes on 73
- Craig Daily Press: Our kids are worth it
- Aurora Sentinel: Don't fall for false arguments against Amendment 73 - it's a fair, realistic way to fund needy schools
- The Coloradoan: Approve Amendment 73 with a watchful eye on local school spending
- Colorado Secretary of State website page: 2017-18 Initiative Filings, Agendas & Results
DRAFT of 2018 School District Elections - information is subject to change as more current information becomes available. Elections: Bond, BEST, Mill Levy Override (MLO), Operational Mill Levy, Full Day Kindergarten MLO, Transportation MLO, Sales Tax. Information posted as of 10/31/2018.
In early October, CSFP asked Superintendents, CFOs/Budget Managers and BOCES Directors what they are experiencing in teacher recruitment / retention issues. We received responses from over 70 districts and BOCES across the state. Following are some of their responses by school district region or BOCES.
- North Central School Districts
- Northeast and Southeast School Districts
- Northwest School Districts
- Metro and Pikes Peak School Districts
- Southwest School Districts
- West Central School Districts
- BOCES
Additional information on Teacher Shortage, Supply, Retention
CSFP Advisory Committee Meeting - Western Slope presentation
The Colorado Sun: Colorado is near the bottom of states in school funding. That's why there are nearly 40 bond and mill levy override questions on ballots this fall.
Summary Report to Legislative Council - Gallagher Interim Committee 2018, Bill A, Bill B, Bill C - October 2018
Colorado Ballot Information Booklet - 2018 Blue Book - Colorado Legislative Council Staff
- Legislative Council Staff Blue Book Press Release 10-11-2018
- Notice of Correction in Amendment 73 Ballot Analysis
Responses by Superintendents and CFO/Budget Managers to CSFP's query about Teacher Retention and Recruitment Concerns in their district: Colorado School District Teacher Recruitment Retention - first email 10/11/2018 - more will be added over the month of October. We have received responses from over 60 of Colorado's 178 districts.
CSFP map of Colorado School Districts on 4-day weeks for 2018-19 School Year, (updated December 2018). Some districts choose to have a 4-day week. For others, it is a financial decision. Colorado has 178 school districts. Source: Colorado Department of Education and districts.
- 104 (58%) of Colorado's school districts are on 4-day weeks
- 91 Districts - All schools on 4-day weeks
- 13 Districts - 1 or some schools on 4-day weeks
- Colorado Charter School Institute - some schools on 4-day weeks
- 1 BOCES on 4-day week
CSFP Advisory Committee
- Initial Considerations for School Funding Models - Senator Zenzinger, Workbook presented to the Legislative Interim Committee on School Finance - September 17, 2018 Workshop
- K-12 Education Budget Outlook: Kate M. Watkins, Chief Economist, Legislative Council Staff
- Alternatives to Gallagher Amendment Interim Study Committee
- Bill 1 - Repeal Gallagher
- Bill 2 - Property Tax Classification Short-term Rental Units
- Bill 3 - Property Tax Residential Assessment Rate
- Bill 4 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Fire Protection District
- Bill 5 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Library District
- Bill 6 - pulled
- Bill 7 - Regional Residential Assessment Rates for Property Tax
- Bill 8 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Certain Special District
- Gallagher Amendment Proposal Considerations - Legislative Council
- Field Update
Statuory Process for Reorganizing School District Boundaries:
- Office of Legislative Legal Services: Overview of statutory process for reorganizing school district boundaries - Jan 2017, Revised September 2018
- Additional / Historical information on Consolidation / Deconsolidation of District Services is available here.
Summer / Fall 2018: Challenge to the constitutionality of the transportation section (Section 7) of HB18-1306 by CASE/CASB and several school districts.
CASE Press Release
Governor Hickenlooper's letter to the Members of the Colorado House of Representation - June 1 2018
The Bill and Fiscal Note
HB18-1306 - Concerning Ensuring Educational Stability for Students in Out-of-Home Placement
HB18-1306 - Fiscal Note
Colorado Ballot Information Booklet - 2018 Blue Book - Colorado Legislative Council
September 2018 Forecast
- Legislative Council
- Office of State Planning & Budget
School Finance Interim Committee - September 17, 2018 Workshop
- September 17, 2018 (Workshop) note: recordings are not available for workshops
Alternatives to the Gallagher Amendment Interim Study Committee - Proposed Legislation
- Bill 1 - Repeal Gallagher
- Bill 2 - Property Tax Classification Short-term Rental Units
- Bill 3 - Property Tax Residential Assessment Rate
- Bill 4 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Fire Protection District
- Bill 5 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Library District
- Bill 6 - pulled
- Bill 7 - Regional Residential Assessment Rates for Property Tax
- Bill 8 - Backfill Property Tax Loss to Certain Special District
DRAFT of 2018 School District Elections - information is subject to change as more current information becomes available. Elections: Bond, BEST, Mill Levy Override (MLO), Operational Mill Levy, Full Day Kindergarten MLO, Transportation MLO, Sales Tax. Information posted as of 10/1/2018, 3:30 PM Update.
Colorado's Legislative History of Mill Levy Overrides from 1988 - 2018
High Achieving States Across 6 Benchmarks: Summary of academic rankings of the top 10 states incorporating 6 benchmarks sourced from a variety of sources: ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), McKinsey/US News - Best States, and EdWeek, Quality Counts.
CASE DBO Presentation: School Finance: Now What? Amendment 73
July 13, 2018 Gallagher Interim Committee Meeting - CSFP Interim Committee information is available on CSFP's Interim Committee page.
- October 3, 2018
- August 21, 2018
- July 18, 2018
- Agenda July 13, 2018
- Presentations:
- Colorado Assessors' Association
- JBC: Property Tax, School Finance, and the Gallagher Amendment
- Pueblo City-County Library
- Department of Local Affairs
Historical information is available on our Historial Info page, by calendar year.