SB 213 has been all over the news lately. This bill would make the biggest change to Colorado school finance since the 1994 act that the state currently uses to determine the amount of funding for public schools along with the distribution to the many school districts and the Charter School Institute.
The bill, spearheaded by democrat Mike Johnston, aims to increase school finance spending by approximately $1 billion. Even if passed, the bill's implementation would require a voter approved tax increase to fund the additional spending.
This new approach to school finance would both increase overall funding and increase funding for those kids considered most at risk, those from low income families and kids with limited or no English language skills.
However, while there has been some attempt to alleviate some of the funding inequities for charter schools, many gaps still remain.
Senator Johnston lists the following as the ways that he has tried to provide equity for charter schools:
- Districts that do not share mill levy monies with charter schools will be lose exclusive chartering authority
- The Charter School Institute will receive mill levy equalization funding
- Average Daily Membership funding should assist growing districts and charter schools by requiring multiple count dates
- Charter schools growing by a grade at a time will be funded on the grade being added
- Charter schools will have the option of using the insurance model of special education funding or receiving all of the special education funding for their students and providing special education services themselves
However, the bill does not address:
- Charter school funding when a school opens a new building and has an increase in student count unrelated to adding a new grade
- Districts or charter schools that are growing purely based on inflow of students as in the first years of the bill there will be a year's delay in applying average daily membership information
- Capital construction funding and the fact that when capital construction began it was over $300 per pupil, but it is now under $100 per pupil
Because of these last three issues, it is possible that some charter schools that would open new buildings would no longer be able to issue debt to fund those buildings or have to obtain financing using a structure that would cause them to pay substantial extra interest in the first few years as principal payments would have to be delayed.
The failure to address the capital construction funding is a significant weakness, especially due to the fact that to restore the funding back to approximately $300 per pupil would only require another $12 million of funding, which is a very small amount compared to the total increase in funding required by SB 213.
While it has been said that with SB 213 everyone will win, some will win more than others. Legislators who have introduced this bill do not support the idea that charter schools are equal partners with traditional public schools, even though in Colorado charter schools have proven that they do work and they do, on average, outperform their traditional school counterparts.
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