Title: Dollars and Data: A Look at K-12 Education Funding in Colorado | Common Sense Institute
Headings: Dollars and Data: A Look at K-12 Education Funding in Colorado
Dollars and Data: A Look at K-12 Education Funding in Colorado
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Here are some of the key findings from this study.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
METHODOLOGY
STATE CONTEXT
SCHOOL FINANCE ACT
SCHOOL FINANCE FUNDING SUMMARY
STUDENT POPULATION TRENDS
TRENDS IN EDUCATION REVENUE
LOCAL FUNDING
TAX TERMS
TRENDS IN EDUCATION SPENDING
INSTRUCTION AND SUPPORT EXPENDITURES
EXPENDITURE EXAMPLES
TRENDS IN TEACHER SALARIES AND TURNOVER
TEACHER SALARIES
ADMINISTRATOR SALARIES
TEACHER TURNOVER
TEACHER SALARY AND TURNOVER SUMMARY
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX A: LIST OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS BY REGION
APPENDIX B: PER PUPIL REVENUES BY SCHOOL DISTRICT, 2017
APPENDIX C: MILL LEVY OVERRIDES BY SCHOOL DISTRICT, 2017
APPENDIX D: PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES BY SCHOOL DISTRICT, 2017

Content: K-12 education funding has been steadily increasing since 2013 when the state’s economy began rebounding from the Great Recession, and it is now at the highest level in the state’s history. School districts also receive additional funding from other local sources and from the federal government. Structural flaws in the K-12 education funding system create inequities for local taxpayers. There is significant variation in the proportional amount taxpayers are contributing to public education through property taxes. Colorado’s education funding system sets a specific amount of total program funding for individual districts. Then it calculates how much each district will contribute through local revenues, and finally, backfills with state funding to get districts to their prescribed funding levels. The amount that local districts contribute to total program funding—which determines the amount of state subsidy to each district—is not based on an intentional policy design and varies dramatically throughout the state. A taxpayer with a median value home in Pueblo, for example, pays $673.55 in property taxes for total program education funding, while a taxpayer in Kit Carson also living in a median value home pays $194.83. Given these flaws in how local dollars are contributed by districts to K-12 funding, the system does not raise revenue in the most effective, or even logical, manner. In addition, structural flaws in the funding system lead to an inequitable distribution of revenues.