Colorado Springs School District 11 officials asking remaining teachers at Jenkins Middle School to take on bigger workload
school funding
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Colorado school funding measure won’t be on November ballot after supporters fail to gather enough signatures
Colorado voters won’t get to decide this November whether to forego a portion of future state tax refunds to better fund K-12 schools. Supporters of a ballot measure that would have dedicated an estimated $984 million in future income tax revenue to help school districts recruit and retain educators announced Monday that they had fallen […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, Equity, News, Politics and Government
“Everybody has a second job”: Low pay leaves rural Colorado teachers struggling
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 […]
Posted inEconomy, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Property tax arms race involving Colorado power players grips Capitol as fragile deal starts to deteriorate
A property tax arms race involving some of the state’s most powerful people is unfolding behind the scenes at the Colorado Capitol in the final days of the 2022 lawmaking term, jeopardizing a fragile deal unveiled this week. The deal, backed by the governor and negotiated over several weeks, would reduce projected property tax increases […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Fully fund K-12 schools? Colorado lawmakers say maybe next year.
Colorado lawmakers this year came closer to fully funding the state’s schools than at any time since the Great Recession. But rattled by rising inflation and the threat of a ballot measure that would slash anticipated growth in property tax revenue legislators stopped short of constitutionally mandated K-12 spending. Democrats say they’re proud of the $36.4 […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
These four states already have universal preschool. What can Colorado learn from them?
When Colorado launches free preschool for 4-year-olds in 2023, it will join a half dozen other states that already offer universal preschool. All of them have encountered the same tricky task Colorado leaders now face as they try to knit together a disparate patchwork of public and private preschools into an equitable and high-quality statewide […]
Posted inEducation, News, Politics and Government
Ballot measure would steer part of TABOR tax refunds to Colorado schools
Colorado voters could be asked to forgo a portion of expected tax refunds in order to steer more money to the state’s schools. Advocates filed paperwork Thursday to place an initiative on the November ballot that could generate somewhere between $820 million and $1.1 billion for K-12 schools without raising taxes. It would be the […]
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 inEconomy, Growth, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Proposition 120: Voters will decide if Colorado property taxes will go down — at least for some
Colorado’s residential property taxes are already among the nation’s lowest, but a measure on the 2021 statewide ballot would drop them ever lower — for some. Proposition 120 would, if approved by voters, reduce the property tax assessment rates for multifamily housing to 6.5% from 7.15% starting in 2022. If you owned affected property valued […]
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 […]