“Fully funding” public education in Colorado will be a key priority for state lawmakers during the 2024 legislative session, Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie recently told Summit School District officials. 

McCluskie’s visit came during a Thursday, Nov. 2, Summit School District board of education meeting in which the high-ranking state Democrat said there was bipartisan support for making the largest investment in K-12 education in more than a decade. Last month, district officials heard similar updates from state Sen. Dylan Roberts. 

“There feels to be, in this moment, universal agreement around funding public schools,” said McCluskie, who represents six counties, including Summit. “I hope that there is a moment to celebrate and then a moment to keep working.” 

Next year, lawmakers are aiming to pay off the debt in K-12 education funding created by the budget stabilization factor, a Great Recession-era mechanism that has diverted money from public schools. Despite a voter-approved amendment to Colorado’s constitution in 2000 that mandated a certain level of education funding, the state has repeatedly fallen short of that mark year over year — and lawmakers usually blame the stabilization factor. 

During the last legislative session, state leaders were able to pass significant education spending in the 2023-24 budget that translated to a roughly $10,500 increase in per pupil funding for schools as well as more funding for rural districts. In its 2023-24 budget, the Summit School District boosted pay for teachers, bus drivers and staff following the injection of more state money. 

“I have heard those dollars translate to higher teacher pay, better benefits” and the “investments in classrooms in the way we had hoped,” McCluskie told Summit district leaders. 

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Now, with Gov. Jared Polis’ 2024-25 budget proposal, lawmakers are hoping to build on those efforts with an additional $564.1 million for K-12 schools, more than enough to eliminate the debt from the stabilization factor. That would bring state education spending to the highest level since 2009 and finally meet its constitutional requirements — which is why lawmakers have referred to the proposal as “fully funding” schools. 

Summit board of education member Julie Shapiro asked McCluskie, “Whether and to what extent there is bipartisan support for buying down” the stabilization factor. 

McCluskie said in response, “Without hesitation, I can say that Republicans and Democrats alike are in line to pay off” the funding mechanism. 

Yet that may still not be enough to fund schools at an appropriate level, McCluskie added. Because of the state’s financing formula, school districts are often facing budget uncertainties that may persist even with a boost in spending by the state. 

For example, when property tax revenue rises, the state government pulls back its funding. This is why, despite historic increases in property taxes slated for next year, the Summit district is likely to see a large amount of that revenue offset by a decline in state spending. 

Other issues include the way the state has screened for at-risk students, which traditionally has been solely through looking at students on free-and-reduced lunch programs, as well as the per-pupil formula. 

McCluskie gave the example of Jefferson County Public Schools near Denver, which has closed and consolidated more than a dozen schools as it faces a steep decline in student enrollment. 

“When your formula is based on student headcount, there isn’t a bright future for a district that projects only declining enrollment, sometimes in the double digits,” McCluskie said, though this has not been an issue for the Summit district.

McCluskie said a school finance committee has been formed to explore changes to the spending formula that could include greater support for at-risk students, English-language learners as well as rural districts. 

“The school finance group was charged with, ‘Can we explore both the funding for students who present with greater need and require additional support?'” she said. “I do believe the school finance group is committed to finding a better approach to funding our rural school districts.”