A coalition of education advocacy groups has fired the first shot in what’s shaping up to be a brutal battle at the statehouse next year over school funding.
Led by Great Education Colorado, a nonprofit group that advocates for more resources for schools, the coalition is calling on Gov. John Hickenlooper, the legislature and the State Board of Education to create a three-year plan “restoring total funding, which will require a 2017-18 budget that does not allow average per pupil funding to fall farther behind inflation.”
“We’re calling on everyone to step it up,” said Lisa Weil, Great Education Colorado’s executive director. “It’s just not sustainable to think our current trajectory of school funding will produce graduates ready for the workforce to support the economy we all want and expect.”
Recent budget forecasts have painted a gloomy outlook for the state’s finances, which could mean cuts for schools across the state.
The governor’s office will submit its proposed budget to lawmakers Nov. 1, giving school districts their first look at what to expect for the 2017-18 school year.
If the governor’s budget calls for across-the-board cuts, it would be the first time since 2012 that state spending for schools has not increased. Last year was the first year that the state’s average funding per student exceeded pre-Great Recession levels. But advocates and school leaders continue to argue funding should be much higher — by about a billion dollars.
School funding has always been a touchy subject in Colorado, a low-tax state in which lawmakers have little say over funding priorities and tax levels. Several constitutional amendments do that for them.
“This issue is much bigger than just the legislature and the governor,” said state Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat and chairwoman of the House Education Committee. “If we could actually vote on something in the legislature that would take care of this, I think we’d have that opportunity. But we’re very limited.”
Weil said she hopes lawmakers and the governor, who is entering his last two years in office, get creative. But her organization is stopping short of specific recommendations — for now.
“What we know,” she said, “is that it’s going to require every legislator on both sides of the aisle in both chambers to make this their own personal mission to figure out how to do right by the students in our schools today.”
Read the coalition’s letter here:
October 27, 2016 An Open Letter to State Leaders: As representatives of statewide and community organizations, we know what our children and communities require to thrive:
- Vibrant public schools with qualified, well-prepared and culturally competent teachers for every student regardless of where they live or how they learn;
- Learning opportunities that meet the needs and curiosity of each and every child;
- Individual attention, support and mental health services that ensure that no child’s future is defined by deprivations, challenges, or trauma.
We also know that every year these student needs go unfulfilled is a year that our students cannot replace or redo. The urgency of now could not be greater. We appreciate that the coming legislative year poses significant challenges for you. Despite having one of the strongest economies in the nation, the Colorado constitution requires that you hold back funds from the fundamental services that help our communities thrive – vibrant public schools, public health and safety, affordable college, safe roads – in order to fund small, individual taxpayer rebates. Now is the time for us to consider the building blocks necessary to ensure prosperity in the future. Colorado’s rapid economic and population growth requires investment in the Coloradans whom we hope will lead, serve and work in our communities in the decades to come. Education is the bedrock of our strength as a state. It is in that context that the undersigned organizations call on you to apply the following minimum standards to your consideration of budget and education policy this year. We ask that you:
- Place Colorado on a three-year path to restoring total funding, which will require a 2017-18 budget that does not allow average per pupil funding to fall farther behind inflation.
- Reject policies that exacerbate or increase the already existing inequities between districts. This includes rejecting unfunded mandates.
- Reject policies that will pit children against each other. Address the inequities in learning opportunities to Colorado’s children through significant additional resources.
Ensure that the all-too-scarce public dollars allocated to K-12 education are only used for public schools. We do not accept – and hope that you will not accept – the notion that adequate and equitable support for school funding is something that is simply beyond your authority or Colorado’s ability. Education serves as the foundation of individual opportunity, community vitality and economic prosperity. We ask for the children of Colorado and for the future of our great state that our elected leaders be bold, visionary and united in addressing this funding crisis. Thank you for keeping the future of Colorado in your minds as you propose and consider the state budget. Sincerely, American Federation of Teachers-Colorado The Arc of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties Colorado Council of Churches Colorado Education Association Coloradans for Educational Excellence Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy and Research Organization Colorado Parent Teacher Association Colorado School Finance Project Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition Great Education Colorado NAACP CO MT WY State-Area Conference Padres Unidos Project VOYCE Support Jeffco Kids Urban League of Metropolitan Denver