School Finance Act proposes increase to per pupil funding and boost to rural districts

    The School Finance Act, which provides most of the funding for public K-12 education, was finally introduced April 11 in the state House, with less than four weeks to go before the General Assembly adjourns May 9.
    House Bill 1379 increases per pupil funding to $6,768.77, up by $222 from 2017-18. That’s an inflationary increase. But that’s not all.
    Another $30 million would go to large and small rural school districts, with 55 percent to larger districts and 45 percent shared among the smaller districts. That marks the second year of that $30 million boost that started with last year’s Sustainability of Rural Colorado measure, Senate Bill 17-267.
    Large rural school districts are those with 1,000 or more students but less than 6,500 and based on distance from the nearest large urban area. Small districts are those under 1,000 students. More than 100 of the state’s 178 public school districts qualify as small rural. Approximately 45 qualify as large rural.
    There are some strings attached to that $30 million boost, according to House Bill 1379. Those dollars can only be used for one-time expenses, but that can include loan forgiveness, technology, initiatives that help attract and retain teachers, or teacher training.
    Michelle Murphy of the Rural School Alliance said she’s very pleased with the second year of funding for rural schools. The 2017-18 dollars have had a huge impact on rural school districts, both large and small, she told this reporter. The money has so far gone to pay for new school buses, curriculum and bonuses for teachers.
    And in line with one of the requirements for House Bill 1379, some districts are considering those loan forgiveness programs, a way of dealing with teacher shortages in many rural schools.
    The school finance bill also pays down some of the 8-year-old debt to K-12 education, previously known as the negative factor but now referred to as the budget stabilization factor. House Bill 1379 includes $150 million for the BS factor. That comes on top of $60 million applied to the debt in budget supplementals passed earlier this year. Between the two infusions, the BS factor has dropped this year from $828 million to around $618 million.
    The delay in getting the school finance act introduced is tied to negotiations over the rural school funding.  
    House Bill 1379 is not yet on the calendar for a hearing.
    
School superintendents support rewrite of School Finance Act
    At the same time, a bill backed by nearly all of the state’s school superintendents will get its first vote this week. House Bill 1232 is a rewrite of the School Finance Act, which hasn’t been changed since 1994. The House Education Committee took testimony on the bill on April 2 but postponed the vote until this week.
    The bill seeks voter approval for a new formula for funding Colorado’s public schools. But it wouldn’t go into effect, even after voter approval, until the state can afford the higher cost, an estimated $1.6 billion in its first year.
    The measure is backed by 171 school superintendents. In a February news conference, superintendents pointed out that more than half of the state’s school districts have at least one school that is on a four-day school week with more considering it. The latest to move to a four-day week is the Brighton 27J district, just north of Denver, which will start that schedule this fall. The district cited a failed mill levy override last November that sought $12 million as the reason for the change.
    The formula starts off with a statewide per-pupil amount. Additional dollars are granted based on student and district characteristics, such as gifted and talented; English language learners; students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, an indication of poverty; special education; and a cost-of-living factor. Finally, a size factor would add money for smaller rural districts.
    The formula would hold harmless districts that could lose money.
    Not one person signed up to testify against the bill in its April 2 hearing.
    “We’re here to offer direct information from the front lines, best practices and research from across the country and wisdom from superintendents,” said Bret Miles, executive director of the Northeast Colorado Board of Cooperative Education Services. “We offer a clear path forward on the best use of the funds. This is the best way to meet the current expectations set on our schools.”
    If the people of Colorado support this distribution, they’ll support raising the funds for it, he said. The superintendents came up with a plan, contained within the bill, which will tell voters just where those dollars will go.
    
Budget gets final approval
    The House and Senate both gave final approval to a compromise version of the state’s 2018-19 budget, and it has gone to Gov. John Hickenlooper to sign. The $29 billion budget compromise was crafted by the Joint Budget Committee, in its role as a conference committee intended to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions. Hickenlooper now has 10 days to sign the budget bill.
    The compromise added about $30 million more in general fund (income and sales taxes) spending to the 2018-19 budget.
    An amendment started in the House by Rep. Jon Becker of Fort Morgan made it into the budget’s final version. It takes $6 million in marijuana tax revenues and transfers it into the state’s Building Excellent Schools Today fund.
    Among the amendments that didn’t survive: $8 million in general funds for rural broadband. But it’s not because the JBC didn’t support the idea; members noted a bill is coming through the General Assembly that will seek those dollars, and they preferred to let that be the vehicle for that funding.
    Rural broadband has been a key goal of just about everyone at the state Capitol this year, from the governor to the General Assembly. The marquee bill, Senate Bill 2, could add as much as $150 million to building high-speed internet in rural communities, beginning in 2019-20.
    
New law to help northeast Colorado’s ‘Medically Underserved’
    Becker also saw another bill he sponsored signed into law. House Bill 1112 will help rural Coloradans who live in what’s known as Health Professional Shortage Areas. That’s a designation by the state Department of Public Health and Environment which addresses professional shortages in primary care, mental health and dental care.
    Every northeastern Colorado county falls into one of two areas: either a professional shortage based on geographic location, like Washington County, or one that is based on an above-average percentage of low-income residents or migrant workers, which includes Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma counties. All of those counties also fall into a “Medically Underserved” designation.
    House Bill 1112 tackles the pharmacists’ issue. Pharmacists can provide certain medical services but can only be reimbursed for the prescriptions. The new law will require health plans to pay for allowed medical services and under an existing contract between the plan and the pharmacy. That can include services like immunizations for 18 and up, tobacco cessation, hypertension management and diabetes management.
    Becker told the House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee in February that the bill would allow patients to see a pharmacist instead of sometimes waiting for months to see a doctor for the same issue. Becker said he did not think the bill would increase health plan costs.
    Hickenlooper signed the new law on April 12.