School funding does not follow the child to alternative means of education.
If you’ve ever looked at Colorado’s school finance formula, you probably came away with a headache. So, to save you from pain, I’ll sum it up by saying that Colorado’s K-12 schools are funded based on pupil count, and the money comes from a combination of local funding, which comes from your property taxes, and state funding, which comes from overall income and sales taxes.
Of course, several factors go into the final amount (and if you’re curious, by all means, click this link), but for this article, all you need to know is each student is worth a certain amount to the school district. In 2022, Per Pupil Revenues (PPR) ranged from $8,428 to $19,762, depending on the district.
But what happens if you decide to homeschool or send your child to a private school? Well, then the local school doesn’t receive funds for your child, but you also don’t get to use those funds to help finance your child’s private or home-based education.
In other words, even though a percentage of your taxes is allocated to funding education, that money isn’t transferable to nonpublic options. However, if Senate Bill 22-039, “Funding for Educational Opportunities,” had passed, that would’ve changed.
Expanding School Choice
Thanks to Public Schools of Choice, parents can send their kids to any public school with an available seat in Colorado. Thus, if your local public school doesn’t have the standards you want, you can opt into another public school or choose a charter school instead. When that happens, the PPR transfers to the school you chose. Additionally, children who attend public school and have special needs can receive therapies and education services at no cost.
However, many parents — myself included — have chosen alternative methods of education. I homeschool my kids, and I know quite a few parents who send their kids to private schools. Unfortunately, when parents choose to homeschool or send their kids to private school, they pay out-of-pocket for school curriculum and expenses, and these expenses are not tax-deductible. Consequently, some parents can’t choose private or home-based education because it’s cost prohibitive.
Senators Paul Lundeen (Republican, D-9) and Barbara Kirkmeyer (Republican, D-23) hoped to address the above disparity and, on Jan. 14, introduced SB 039 to the senate. It was subsequently assigned to the senate’s Education Committee. SB 039 would have required the state treasurer to transfer $723 million from the general fund to the state education fund, repealed the budget stabilization factor, and established the Hope Scholarship Program. All three of these initiatives would’ve benefited students, but the establishment of the Hope Scholarship Program would’ve had the most significant impact.
Transferable Dollars
As I’ve previously detailed, charter schools are a valuable part of Colorado’s education system because they’re free and push other schools to do better by competing for students and PPR. The Hope Scholarship Program would’ve expanded that competition by allowing parents to apply for “scholarships” to pay for “eligible expenses.”
Those expenses include: “Tuition or fees at a nonpublic elementary, middle, or high school, including a nonpublic online school, in Colorado. Costs incurred in providing a nonpublic home-based educational program. Costs or fees for before-school programs, after-school programs, or summer school programs, and costs or fees for special education services or therapies, including occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, physical therapy, speech-language therapy, and audiology therapy.”
In other words, The Hope Scholarship Program would’ve established a sort-of school voucher program, allowing parents to take the PPR that would’ve gone to the local public school and instead use those funds to offset the cost of home-based or private education. That would’ve been incredibly beneficial for low-income, and working families, who can’t afford home or private school without assistance.
Lost Opportunities
Education is one of the most critical building blocks to success, and Colorado’s parents are lucky to have School Choice. But, both Lundeen and Kirkmeyer believe that private school and home-based education shouldn’t just be for the wealthy, and many Colorado parents agree with them and gave testimony to this effect. However, powerful teacher unions like Colorado Education Association disagreed and testified in opposition to SB 039.
Following testimony, Senate Democrats Buckner, Moreno, Bridges and Story sided with the unions and, on a party-line vote on Feb, 24, voted to postpone SB 039 indefinitely.
If you feel that the above vote was disappointing, and that education opportunities should be expanded in Colorado, contact your representatives and let them know that in the future, you want them to side with parents over teacher unions.
