It was November, and Casey Cunningham had a decision to make: She could pay her car registration or buy holiday gifts. Cunningham was already delinquent on her student loan payments. After shelling out for her rent, car and utilities, she was left with less than $1,000 to cover all of her other expenses. The third-grade […]
school finance
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Education, Energy, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Budgets fat with fossil fuel revenue at odds with climate-change goals in states like Colorado
By Morgan Lee and Mead Gruver, The Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. — Government budgets are booming in New Mexico: Teacher salaries are up, residents can go to an in-state college tuition-free, moms will get medical care for a year after childbirth, and criminal justice initiatives are being funded to reduce urban violence. The reason […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers want to tweak how at-risk students are counted amid broader school-funding overhaul
State lawmakers are looking to tweak how Colorado distributes money to help school districts support their neediest students, fearing that the current definition of “at-risk,” a measure used to determine funding, is no longer accurate. Tens of millions of dollars could be on the line. The state uses free and reduced-price lunch sign-ups to help […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s education pie just got bigger. Now lawmakers want to give a larger slice to higher-needs students.
Expecting a cash infusion after the Colorado Supreme Court gave its blessing to raising local school district taxes, lawmakers are proposing major changes to how the state spends its education dollars. House Bill 1325 would expand the definition of children living in poverty and qualifying for additional funding and, for the first time, give districts more […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
As Colorado legislature reconvenes, leaders pledge funds for K-12, higher education
By Jason Gonzales and Erica Meltzer, Chalkbeat Colorado Colorado lawmakers returned to work Tuesday with Democratic leaders pledging to restore cuts made to K-12 and higher education during the early months of the pandemic last year and to invest more in education. “The uphill recovery and the many daunting tasks before us may be mighty, […]
Posted inNews
Colorado school finance bill would spare districts from impact of enrollment declines
Colorado school districts would avoid the worst budget hits from losing 30,000 students this school year under a bill that received initial support from the Joint Budget Committee Thursday. The bill sends an extra $60 million to school districts — $41 million to make up for lost local tax revenue and another $19 million to districts […]
Posted inCOVID, Education, News
A late surge in demand overwhelms Colorado’s state-sponsored online school
Colorado’s state-sponsored online school has been overwhelmed by demand as a diverse collection of districts turn to the nonprofit provider to serve students whose parents don’t want them in a classroom during the pandemic. Colorado Digital Learning Solutions had to suspend registration just a few days after it opened last week to work through a backlog […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
The big tax change in Colorado’s school finance act, explained
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters To head off a deepening crisis and address longstanding problems in school funding, Colorado lawmakers are trying to find a way to reset school district property taxes around the state. This year’s Public School Finance […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s shift to a new higher education funding formula places the focus on the student
By Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat Colorado This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here: ckbe.at/newsletters For years, Colorado has funded its public higher education institutions primarily by how many students they can enroll. Now the state instead will weigh more heavily how well an […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Treating educators with dignity and respect starts with paying them a decent wage
Colorado educators are painfully underpaid. Thousands of them work second or third jobs just to make ends meet. Many struggle to keep a roof over their head and are saddled with crushing debt. Countless others are driven out of the profession permanently. In fact, Colorado public schools are facing a crisis as increasing turnover rates […]