Colorado School Finance Partnership

Colorado School Finance Partnership
Author: Colorado Children's Campaign, Denver
Publisher:
Total Pages: 25
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

Over the last decade, Colorado has emerged as a national leader in crafting innovative solutions for challenges facing its public school system. From implementing the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) reforms to more recent legislation including standards and assessments for a preschool-through-college framework, school and district accountability and accreditation requirements and teacher evaluation systems tied to student performance, Colorado's education policies and schools are deeply focused on innovation and accountability. Despite this progress, one part of the state's public policies hasn't kept up; it has been nearly 20 years since Colorado revamped and modernized its school finance legislation. The state's School Finance Act (SFA) was last overhauled in 1994. While Colorado is strategically moving ahead on education policy reform, the issue of school finance remains largely unchanged and outdated in many areas. The Colorado Children's Campaign, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization with education expertise, convened a diverse group of education leaders, education reform advocates, elected officials and business leaders to form the School Finance Partnership (SFP or the Partnership) in the spring of 2011. The purpose of the SFP is to examine how Colorado currently funds its public schools and to propose innovative recommendations to the state's policymakers for a comprehensive overhaul of Colorado's school funding system. The Partnership seeks a defined connection between the student outcomes schools are expected to achieve, the resources that are provided to schools and how schools are funded to reach those targets. The SFP is made up of two committees: (1) a Steering Committee; and (2) a Partnership Committee. This paper presents the recommendations developed by the SFP which are the result of a full-consensus model, where all present members of the Steering Committee agreed to each recommendation and, ultimately, to the full set of recommendations. The recommendations were developed through intensive learning processes, including presentations from national experts and analysis of research about the current school finance structure and potential alternatives. Although bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders with a wide range of perspectives was a bold endeavor, the common values and goal the group established--providing a high-quality education for every student in Colorado--led to the development of a robust set of recommendations that the Partnership believes will lead to critical changes in the way Colorado funds its schools. A bibliography is included. (Contains 22 footnotes.).

Charter School Funding Considerations

Charter School Funding Considerations
Author: Christine Rienstra Kiracofe
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2022-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1648028357

Much has been written about how public schools in the United States are funded. However, missing in the current literature landscape is a nuanced discussion of funding as it relates to public charter schools. This text, authored by researchers and professionals working in the charter school world, provides readers with a comprehensive overview of issues related to the funding and operation of charter schools. The book opens with an introduction to charter schools and how they are funded. The financial management and oversight of charter schools and issues related to funding equity, including how charter schools impact district school finances, are addressed. Special considerations for charter schools related to serving special education students and transportation issues are also addressed. After reading this book, readers will have a thorough understanding of how charter schools are funded and managed financially.

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses

Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses
Author: Eric A. Hanushek
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2009-04-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1400830257

Improving public schools through performance-based funding Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public-school funding, the United States now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. Yet American students still achieve less than their foreign counterparts, their performance has been flat for decades, millions of them are failing, and poor and minority students remain far behind their more advantaged peers. In this book, Eric Hanushek and Alfred Lindseth trace the history of reform efforts and conclude that the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever-increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Instead, Hanushek and Lindseth propose a new approach: a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising student achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions about how to run their schools, ultimately leading to improved student performance. Hanushek and Lindseth have been important participants in the school funding debate for three decades. Here, they draw on their experience, as well as the best available research and data, to show why improving schools will require overhauling the way financing, incentives, and accountability work in public education.

An Evaluation of the Equity of Colorado School Finance, the Application of the Negative Factor, and the Long-term Impacts to the Economy of Colorado

An Evaluation of the Equity of Colorado School Finance, the Application of the Negative Factor, and the Long-term Impacts to the Economy of Colorado
Author: William Peter Dallas
Publisher:
Total Pages: 120
Release: 2017
Genre: Education
ISBN:

This dissertation links to an energetic discussion currently unfolding in Colorado regarding beliefs concerning an equitable and constitutionally appropriate level of school funding. Prior to the Great Recession, Colorado enacted a series of legislative reform initiatives, which have gridlocked the state’s ability to increase revenue and adversely impacted available funding for public school education. Amendment 23 was a legislative reform initiative designed to safeguard the public education. However, following the economic downturn of the early 21st century, Colorado enacted HB 10-1369, also known as the Negative Factor. This piece of legislation legalized a reduction of funding to Colorado school districts and currently funnels nearly one billion dollars annually away from education. This dissertation employs a series of economic models to evaluate per pupil equity prior to and post implementation of the negative factor. In addition, this dissertation utilizes two models to outline the way in which this reduction can result in an overall loss to public and economic goods. Findings assert that equity of total per pupil funding in Colorado has decreased during the application of the negative factor, that this decrease was experienced during a time of increased disparity across school districts, and that predictors within the state funding formula exist which disadvantage school districts compared to others when subjected to funding reductions applied through the negative factor. Through the use of an opportunity cost model, this dissertation also cautions that, not only are lost positive returns of investing further in K-12 education present, but if steps are not taken to correct revenue constricting legislative measures, the use of the negative factor as a means to balance the state Total and General Funds is a short-term and limited solution to a much broader governmental issue.

Financing Schools and Educational Programs

Financing Schools and Educational Programs
Author: Al Ramirez
Publisher: R&L Education
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2012-10-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1475801785

Al Ramirez writes on the subject of how the public schools in the United States are financed and how other funds are raised for educational programs in elementary and secondary schools. A context for public school finance is provided throughout the volume by grounding each topic in historical, policy, political, and common practice, so the work spans both the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject matter. The text is written primarily for graduate students in programs for education leadership, administration, policy studies, public administration, public finance and public accounting. The content will also serve as a resource for practitioners and education policy leaders, e.g., school board members, foundation program officers, legislators, and policy analysts at the local, state and national levels. Each chapter is structured so as to enhance the book’s value to pre-service students preparing for entry-level school administration positions as well as candidates for advanced degrees who need more research based theoretical content on school finance. The author recognizes that each state has its own unique funding approach and guides readers to state resources that supplement the books content.

Performance Funding for Higher Education

Performance Funding for Higher Education
Author: Kevin J. Dougherty
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 142142083X

Ultimately, the authors recommend that states create new ways of helping colleges with many at-risk students, define performance indicators and measures better tailored to institutional missions, and improve the capacity of colleges to engage in organizational learning.

Report of the Colorado Minority Success Taskforce

Report of the Colorado Minority Success Taskforce
Author: Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Denver
Publisher:
Total Pages: 9
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

This report describes the best practices described by national experts, some of the actions that are currently being taken by Colorado institutions of higher education and recommendations for improving programs to retain and graduate minority and low-income students. Over the course of the taskforce's meetings, it became clear that Colorado's institutions are all working in different ways to answer many of the questions addressed by the national experts. Each of the institutions that presented to the taskforce had programs and policies in place to address the needs of minority and low-income students. There were some programs present on almost every campus; others programs are not present on each campus. Several institutions presented the taskforce with information about programs that are particularly successful on their campus. The taskforce found that what is largely absent is a systematic approach that coordinates alignment of federal, state and local resources to focus those limited resources on ensuring minority student success. Under Colorado's new College Opportunity Fund program, the state's institutions of higher education have the opportunity to focus their limited resources on meaningful programs to assist low-income and minority students. To meet this end, institutions must develop long-term plans to address these issues and prioritize funding to attend to the needs of low-income and minority students. The taskforce recommend the following as first steps toward a long-term, systemic approach to ensuring minority student success.: (1) Amend Performance Contract Provisions to Require Best Practices; (2) Amend Fee-for-Service Contracts to Fund Research-Based Support Services; (3) Amend Performance Contract Provisions to Include Specific Support Services; (4) Prioritize Work Study Within Financial Aid; and (5) Implement an Online Textbook Pilot Program to Reduce Book Costs.