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School Views: Cut the knot — an open letter to Colorado legislators

Philip Qualman
School Views
Philip Qualman

Last legislative session I wrote to Colorado leaders begging for a more courageous and comprehensive solution to the state’s dysfunctional K-12 funding model. Nevertheless, about 90 pieces of legislation were proposed that would impact K-12, none of which dramatically changed the situation for our kids. Before the next session begins I ask again, and attempt to explain the situation to new legislators.

In 2000, Colorado voters passed Amendment 23 to the Colorado Constitution which prioritized K-12 funding for our schools. In 2010 budget analysts identified a way to skirt the intent of Amendment 23 and underfund K-12 schools, which has continued for the past 12 years. It’s time to uphold the intent of Amendment 23 and prioritize our kids.

The status quo must go

Simply put, the funding mechanism for Colorado K-12 schools is flawed. Our kids pay the initial price, but in the long run, the quality of life for all Coloradans will suffer.



The current funding model was introduced in 1994 with an expectation that school districts across the state would levy residential property tax up to 40 mills in order to adequately fund schools. Yet few districts ever reached that level of local funding, leaving Colorado schools seriously underfunded.

The problem lies at the confluence of the assessed value of residential property and the disparity in mill levy rates. These two factors converge to generate the majority of revenue for K-12 schools, and each has incredible variability.

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When these components are forced together the result is an infinite loop of dysfunction. Assessed valuation is essentially a community’s ability to generate revenue from residential property tax. Obviously, that ability is vastly different from expensive resort communities or densely populated Front-Range suburbs to rural corners of the state. Mill levy rates are a community’s actual effort to generate revenue from property value, and each community sets their own mill levy tax rates. Specifically, total mills for K-12 funding vary by district from 5.5 mills at the low end to 82.0 mills at the high end.

The funding formula attempts to equalize this gross inequity by backfilling districts with low assessed valuation and/or low mill levy rates. This is an exercise in madness, and every legislative cycle brings more attempts to prop up this broken system.

Dysfunctional and exacerbating solutions

School districts in Colorado are given several tools to overcome the funding shortfalls. Unfortunately, most of these tools are dysfunctional and/or exacerbative.

Four-day school week

One solution many districts have turned to is the four-day school week. At present, 124 of 178 Colorado districts implement some form of a four-day week. That’s 69% of Colorado districts. The four-day week isn’t typically adopted to save money, but to incentivize potential employees. We have talked much about a teacher shortage, which is certainly real, but we also struggle to hire support positions that are essential to keep schools running.

We compete for staff in a free market economy but enter that arena with our hands tied behind our backs. Unlike private businesses that can increase prices to offset rising costs, Colorado K-12 schools operate within the budget limitations imposed by state law. If we can’t find adequate staff, the quality (and increasingly the quantity) of education we provide inevitably suffers. The four-day week is spreading like wildfire throughout the state, and the result is less school time for our students who have suffered learning loss from the pandemic and need more time in school, not less. It’s a sad state of affairs when Colorado leads the nation in four-day school weeks.

Mill levy overrides

All districts, including this one, have passed mill levy overrides to overcome the egregious shortcomings of the state funding system. Ironically, every time a district passes a mill levy override, it benefits that community but exacerbates the inequity and variability among every other district in the state.

Grants

There are over 112 grants managed by the Colorado Department of Education, totaling more than $400M annually. We don’t need more grants that create competition among districts. We shouldn’t spend our limited resources on grant writers and grant managers. These dollars would be better utilized to increase compensation for teachers and essential support staff. While we’re happy to compete with our neighbors in soccer, football and debate, we don’t want our neighbors’ kids to have a less fulfilling educational experience because we were able to win a grant. The grant pool feels like a coy pond at feeding time and all Colorado students end up paying the price.

Historical context

In 333 BC, Alexander the Great was challenged to untie a tangled rope called the Gordian Knot. An oracle proclaimed that whoever solved the Gordian Knot would rule all of Asia. Alexander struggled with the knot and eventually realized it didn’t matter how he untied it, so he drew his sword and cut it open. Similarly, we can’t afford to tie more layers on the Gordian Knot which is the Colorado K-12 funding model.

Bold solution needed

There are already proposals floating around the Capitol to consider a new funding formula in the upcoming legislative session. Instead of revising the funding formula, I implore our legislative leaders to legally define “adequate” funding for our schools, and strive to give our students and staff what they need to be competitive. Moving nickels and dimes within the funding formula ignores the fact that our system is billions of dollars short of adequate. Propose solutions that match the moment. Set a goal to fund our students at the US average for per-pupil spending. Unfortunately, our state is about $2,500 short of average US per pupil spending, so we have a lot of work to do if we want our schools to be competitive.

Close examination of our K-12 system reveals that staffing levels are at a breaking point. Bottom line, Colorado is not competitive with other states in our ability to recruit and retain high-quality educators, nor are we able to compete for staff with private businesses on the free market.

Our system needs a major overhaul. We need the courage to take a sword to the existing funding model.

To fix the system we need to reduce variability and promote reliability. We can accept that assessed valuation is different around the state. However, variable mill levy rates could be overcome with a statewide fixed mill rate for K-12 funding that allows for equal effort from every community. That, combined with a reliable and responsible definition of “adequate” funding would go a long way in fixing the system. It would also uphold the will of Colorado voters who prioritized public education in 2000 when they passed Amendment 23.

Think differently. Draw the sword and cut the knot.

Philip Qualman is the superintendent of Eagle County School District. Email him at philip.qualman@eagleschools.net.


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