Crunch Time at the Capitol

This past week, two important milestones were reached: the School Finance Act passed unanimously out of its first committee, and the state budget cleared both chambers. The confluence of these two developments sets the stage for a promising conclusion to the remainder of this session.  

Those of you reading our legislative updates or attending our legislative lunches know the state is grappling with a nearly $1.2 billion budget shortfall. Despite that challenging backdrop, we're proud to report that K–12 education—and charter schools in particular—are in a favorable position with less than a month to go in the session.

That’s no accident. It’s the result of persistent, behind-the-scenes advocacy from the League, strong relationships with legislative champions, and the collective voice of our movement showing up at just the right moments.

Here are a few quick highlights from both the budget and School Finance Act: 

1. Increased Funding for K-12 Education: As currently drafted, the School Finance Act will increase statewide average PPR by nearly $400 per student (3.5%) in the 25-26 school year, adding $256.7 million more in education funding than what was allocated last year. 
2. CSI Mill Levy Equalization: The state budget fully funds the CSI Mill Levy Equalization Fund, continuing Colorado’s commitment to funding all schools equitably. In a budget year where there was nearly $1.2 billion shortfall, we increased the CSI mill levy equalization by over $5 million, a remarkable feat.  This means students in CSI charter schools will receive comparable mill levy funding to their peers in district-run schools.
3. Charter Capital Construction: Although the state contribution will be slightly reduced next year, we remain on track to receive the entirety of our federal match. Taken together, charter schools in Colorado will secure nearly $100 million from state and federal sources for capital construction dollars over the next five years. 
4. Restoring the At-Risk Supplemental: The entire $7 million dollars, which was cut by the Joint Budget Committee, has been restored via an amendment to the School Finance Act. The funding will still be phased out over the next two years as the new funding formula takes effect, but we successfully advocated for a more gradual step down than had been originally adopted. 
5. Protecting Part-Time Enrichment: Part-time enrichment will continue to be funded at .5 PPR. There had been some discussion about cutting this funding in half, but those efforts failed to make their way into either the state budget or the School Finance Act.
6. Increasing the Cap on the Moral Obligation Program: An additional amendment to the School Finance Act would increase the cap on the Moral Obligation Program—which helps charter schools access low-interest bonds for facilities—by $250 million, bringing the total to $1 billion. This expansion would open the door for more charter schools to finance facilities sustainably and affordably.

While the budget has now passed both the House and the Senate, it’s important to note that the process isn’t quite finished. Because each chamber adopted different amendments, those differences must now be reconciled. A final version will need to pass both chambers again before it can be sent to the governor for signature.

Just as important as the bills that passed are the ones that didn’t. Thanks to early, proactive engagement—and strong relationships with the Governor, the Senate President, the Speaker, and key lawmakers from both parties—we successfully helped prevent damaging legislation that could have undermined charter autonomy or added unnecessary bureaucracy for schools. 

Efforts resembling last year’s HB 24-1363 or bills to limit the expansion of CSI schools never gained traction, and in many cases, never even made it to the drafting stage. That’s the kind of quiet, behind-the-scenes advocacy that defines our work: stopping bad policy before it becomes a public fight.

We still have a few weeks to go, and nothing is set in stone, but we're pleased to report that charter schools are in a strong position as we head into the final stretch of the session.

If you do not receive our legislative updates, please sign up here. You are also welcome to join the legislative lunch at 12:00 on Fridays. And lastly, please take a look at the Bill Tracker to monitor the bills we are tracking. 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to our advocacy team—or email me directly at [email protected].

Prateek Dutta, VP of Policy
For the Colorado League of Charter Schools