Date: 02/13/2013

Final
Colorado School Finance Partnership Presentation

COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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08:22 AM -- Colorado School Finance Partnership Presentation

Chris Watney, President and CEO, Colorado Children's Campaign, and Co-Chair of the Colorado School Finance Partnership (Partnership), Cary Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer, City and County of Denver, and Co-Chair of the Partnership, and Bob Deibel, President, OfficeScapes, and Co-Chair of the Partnership, came to the table to begin their presentation. They distributed two handouts (Attachment B and Attachment C). Ms. Watney provided some background information on the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Partnership, and spoke about the importance of looking at the school finance system funding streams and how they support the innovations in education policy that Colorado has enacted in recent years. She explained that the Partnership is made up of a diverse group of education stakeholders that developed a set of recommendations to provide to the General Assembly regarding school finance. She explained that the group had complete consensus on each of the final recommendations.

13JtEd0213AttachB.pdf13JtEd0213AttachB.pdf 13JtEd0213AttachC.pdf13JtEd0213AttachC.pdf

08:34 AM

Mr. Deibel told the committee about his background as a business owner and stated that economic development and education go hand-in-hand. He talked about the importance of the business community investing in improved student outcome in order to shape a workforce that is ready to compete in the 21st century. He spoke about the principles of the Partnership in determining a set of recommendations, such as return on investment and the ability to measure whether funding is having a positive impact on student outcomes. Mr. Deibel stated that there are four areas on which the recommendations focus: alignment and accountability in student outcomes; innovation; equity in the system; and sufficiency in conjunction with an appropriate degree of reform. He explained in further detail what alignment and accountability in student outcomes and innovation mean in terms of education funding.


08:44 AM

Ms. Kennedy spoke about the areas of equity and sufficiency and the recommendations the Partnership made in these areas. She stated that it's imperative to look at how the state and community raise funds as well as how these funds are distributed. Ms. Kennedy told the committee that the achievement gap in Colorado between wealthy and poor children is among the highest in the U.S., and that the negative factor has cut funding to at-risk youth by two-thirds. She explained that it's important to provide adequate funding for special needs education and early intervention programs, and funding to districts needs to be based on accurate student counts throughout the year. She concluded by stating that the Partnership recommends that the School Finance Act should be written in a way that ensures a thorough and uniform funding system for Colorado's schools.


08:52 AM

The committee adjourned.