On April 18, the House Education Committee held a hearing for HB24-1448, a proposal for a new School Finance Formula. As reported by Colorado Public Radio, the hearing aired conflicting views among education community members.
Great Education Colorado is currently neutral on the bill, pending possible amendments to address some concerns and confirmation from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) that the new formula will actually produce the intended results. The testimony of Great Ed’s Executive Director, Lisa Weil, follows. (You can listen to the testimony here, starting at 6:25:00.)
Thank you Madame Chair.
My name is Lisa Weil. I am the Executive Director of Great Education Colorado, and I was proud and honored to serve as a member of the School Finance Task Force. It is gratifying to see some of our recommendations make their way toward reality.
Like so many in this room, Great Education Colorado has a vision of a Colorado where, through a vibrant system of public education, every student graduates prepared to lead their best lives. For over 20 years, we have worked toward that north star by advocating for welcoming and adequately, equitably and sustainably funded public schools – for every student.
HB1448 takes an important step forward toward equitable funding, by acknowledging that students with the greatest need require additional resources. We appreciate the pledge of dollars beyond what the current post-BS Factor school funding formula would provide and look forward to seeing the CDE district runs, that will help ensure that the new formula achieves its intended goal. As you heard from powerful testimony today, the status quo harms students, and every step forward is important and welcome.
As so many have acknowledged, HB1448 is about equity not adequacy. Given budget constraints, the bill does not and cannot implement all the Task Force recommendations – including larger ELL [(English Language Learners]), at-risk and Special Ed weights, a “cost-of-doing business” factor, and an increase in base funding.
Fortunately, we will soon have two adequacy studies to provide objective Colorado-specific data that will tell us what resources – such as class sizes, interventionists, student supports – are necessary to meet the needs of all students in all their diversity. One of the Task Force’s recommendations was that: “The legislature should annually revisit and update the base and need weights . . . reflect[ing] the results of the adequacy studies when they have been published. We look forward to that process.
I greatly appreciate the urgency behind this measure. When this is done, we will need that same level of urgency to address inadequate funding. Great Education Colorado stands ready to work with any and all people and organizations who believe that a more adequate funding system is a moral imperative and within our grasp. We appreciate that HB1448 will help make the most of what funding we have, but our students deserve more than triage.
Thank you for pursuing this first step toward the north star. We look forward to working together to secure a sustainable and adequate stream of funding so that we can do right by all students.