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Quick Clicks to current reports:

School Finance Timeline 1980 - 2011 updated through 2009 Legislative session.

English Language Proficiency Act (ELPA) Charts & Data

Mill Levy Stabilization

2005 Interim Committee Report or go to Historical Info, 2005 for more detail.

Colorado School Finance Project: Fourteen years of research and analysis of school finance.

June 2009: The CSFP and Augenblick, Palaich & Associates (APA) exploration of school district consolidation:

• APA report: An Exploration of District Consolidation: Status and Research. June 2009
• School District Organization Highlights - helpful to read with the power point below
• School District Organization: Status and Research (APA), power point presentation and Table 3 referenced in the power point, included in research report.
• Colorado's Enrollment Trends 2004-2008 (Did You Know?)
• Colorado County & District Data Snapshot
• Student Count Change (CDE 2004-2008) by County and School District
• Student Count, Districts in County, square miles, people per square mile: Countiess in CDE Regional Service Areas (RSA) Summary
• Student Count, Districts in County, square miles, people per square mile: Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) Region

Update: School Finance Timeline 1980 - 2011 chart through the 2009 Legislative session.

School Finance Interim Committee: CSFP letter read at June 4, 2009 meeting and CSFP Report presented to the members of the Interim Committee.

March 2009: CSFP Interactive District Budget model and how to use the model.

Lists the Timeline of School Financed Related Events (2009 Focus - 2011 Outlook). We will update the timeline as things change.

February 2009: Maximizing the Stimulus, Removing the Arveschoug-Bird Provisions by Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. Balancing Taxes, Education Funding and Long-Term Economic Development by Dr. Richard G. Sims, Chief Economist, National Education Assocation.

A CSFP report, using data from several years of Education Week, Quality Counts data, How Much More Per Pupil? do nearby states invest in K-12 education.

The Education Commission of the States (Michael Griffith, policy analyst) published several reports about Changes in Per-Pupil Education Spending from 1981-2002.

• Map of US indicating illustrating state spending in 1981-82 and 2001-02 and the % change.
• Map of US indicating illustrating state spending in 2001-02 and the % change from 1981-82 spending.
• Alphabetical listing of states comparing state spending changes between 1981 and 2002.

Brief overview of the School Finance Formula - Rational and Perspective

January 2009: CSFP's Presentation to House and Senate Education Committees.

Using data from Education Week Quality Counts 2009 report, CSFP created several reports/charts. A report indicating how much money nearby states expend more per pupil than Colorado and a school finance report with two charts: comparing Colorado per pupil expenditures with nearby states and comparing Colorado to states engaged in school reform.

September 2008: Annually, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) prepares reports on the state of education in Colorado. CSFP and Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates (APA) use the CDE data to further analyze and report on K-12 public school funding in Colorado creating the Colorado State Profile reports. Following are the reports from CDE's 2008 release, comparing 2006-07 data to 2005-06, 2002-02, and 1992-93:

• Table 1 - Enrollment in K-12 Public Education includes all students, Special Education, Free Lunch, ELL
• Table 2 - Number of Teachers and Teachers per 1,000 Students
• Table 3 - Average Teacher Salary
• Table 4 - Per Student Current Spending & Revenues
• Table 5 - Relationship Between Local Revenue for K-12 and Personal Income
• CDE: Profile Data, Table A (formerly named Changes Over Time in Enrollment, Expenditures and Revenue).

Colorado K-12 Education Funding: An Overview was compiled by APA using data from CDE. This one page document highlights areas of concern for K-12 funding.

The Relationship Between Allocation of Finances, Amount of Finances and Student Achievement: A spring 2008 study funded by CSFP found close links between funding specific, systemic student education initiatives and increased student achievement. Read the Executive Summary and Key Points of this study, performed by APA for CSFP. View APA's powerpoint (pdf) for CSFP analyzing the relationship between the allocation of finances, amount of finances and student achievement.

CSFP Background: The Colorado School Finance Project (CSFP) compiles, collects and distributes research-based information and data on topics related to school finance.

The CSFP was created in 1995, following the passage of the 1994 School Finance Act. It is funded by contributions from our Colorado school districts, from the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and the Colorado BOCES Association.

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How does Colorado rank in K-12 spending?
Colorado spends $1,449 less per pupil than the national average. In 2003 Colorado spent $551 less than the national average. As Colorado has invested in education, other states have invested more.
Neighboring states spending more per pupil than Colorado:

• Kansas $1,702
• Montana $3,146
• Nebraska $2,509
• New Mexico $1,011
• Wyoming $5,612
  

Source: Ed. Week, Quality Counts 2009, data for 2006-07.