Between our state budget crisis and a dizzying barrage of federal Executive Orders and funding cuts, it’s hard to keep track of all the threats to public education. Here’s our summary:
(TL;DR version: come to our Advocacy Day on April 16!)
THE NOW
This Year’s Budget: Last week, after months of struggling to find the least destructive ways to cut $1.2 billion out of the state budget, the Joint Budget Committee introduced a budget (known as the “Long Bill”) that increases total funding for schools – but not by enough to provide an inflation adjustment to all districts.
- One district – Adams 12 Five-Star District – has already announced the need to cut 150 staff positions.
- Still, the Long Bill’s school funding plan is far better for Colorado students than the Governor’s original proposal that would have cut more.
The 2025-26 School Finance Act: Based on the funding levels established in the Long Bill, legislative leaders have proposed this year’s School Finance Act. The proposal is intended to increase school funding by $500 million over the next seven years, though Colorado’s structural deficit (caused by TABOR) will likely short-circuit the plan in Year Two or Three.
TABOR Under Scrutiny. Most of our school funding woes result from three decades of TABOR’s revenue and spending limits. That’s tough in normal times, but with pending cuts to federal programs supporting education, health care, transportation, and human services, it’s even worse.
Colorado stands to lose hundreds of millions of federal dollars, but – unlike other states – we can’t protect our students from the fallout. Colorado is like a boxer taking body blows – with both hands tied behind his back by the restraints of TABOR. That’s why Great Ed signed on to this letter to Speaker Julie McCluskie, seeking action on TABOR reform and testified in favor of HCR 25-1023,
Federal attacks on Public Education. Here’s the most accessible guide we’ve yet found listing and explaining the education-related executive orders and other actions that have “flooded the zone” in the last 75 days. Hats off to Colorado Commissioner of Education, Susana Córdova, who has informed the Trump administration that Colorado will not comply with an illegal demand from the Trump administration “to certify that its schools have eliminated what the federal government says are illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.”
THE FUTURE
No More Groundhog Years! Our students deserve better than policymakers spending their time figuring out how to do the least damage possible. Instead, with an uncertain economic future and federal cuts looming, it’s time for Colorado to abandon our “learned helplessness,” and create the school system our students need to navigate and master the future.
We’re getting closer to “Getting It Done”! Thank you to Senator Cathy Kipp for introducing Senate Joint Resolution 25-021: “Concerning a commitment to pursuing full and fair funding of public schools.” The resolution puts legislators on the record regarding whether or not they will create the “Colorado Blueprint for Student Success” – a structure plan to create fully and fairly funded public schools in every community.