HB 18-1379: Public School Finance

SECTION 1. The bill increases the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2018-19 budget year by $222.57 to account for inflation, for a new statewide base per pupil funding of $6,768.77. SECTION 2. The bill sets the minimum district total program funding for the 2018-19 budget year. The district total program funding reflects a $150 million reduction in the budget stabilization factor over the prior budget year. SECTION 3. For the 2018-19 budget year, the bill distributes $30 million on a per-pupil basis to large rural districts and small rural districts including district charter schools and each institute charter school whose accounting district is a large or small rural district. Large rural districts share 55% of the appropriation, and small rural districts share 45% of the appropriation. The bill uses a district's funded pupil count for the 2017-18 budget year. The bill specifies the intended uses of the money. SECTION 4. The bill increases by 1,000 slots the number of early childhood at-risk enhancement, or ECARE, slots that may be used for preschool students or to extend kindergarten to full-day kindergarten. SECTION 5. Under current law, money appropriated for the 'English Language Proficiency Act' (act) is allocated 75% to serve students who have no or limited English language proficiency and 25% to serve students who are newly fluent in English but who need monitoring. The bill changes the funding allocation for the act by allocating funding proportionately, based on the number of students who have no or limited English proficiency and the number of students who are newly fluent but who need monitoring. SECTION 6. The bill amends the requirements relating to core course level participation and performance reports by limiting reporting on core courses to only the middle and high school levels and by delaying the date by which the department shall make the report available on its website. SECTION 7. The bill amends the reporting requirement relating to the annual report on the effectiveness of educator preparation programs to require the inclusion of certain data in the report only if the data is available at the time of the annual report. SECTION 8. The bill clarifies that a district certifies the number of English language learners and the department of education determines a student's eligibility for funding under the act.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

CEA supports this bill because it takes steps in the right direction to reduce the BS (budget stabilization factor-previously called the negative factor) and increases per pupil funding for school districts across CO.

NOTE: The Senate Vote scored by CEA for this bill was not the final vote which was 35-0 in favor, rather it was “committee of the whole amendment L001” which included increased funding for public education. This vote failed 17-18.