Date: 04/04/2012
Final
Committee Discussion with Colorado Department of Education and the Joint Budget Committee
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
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07:37 AM -- Committee discussion with the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) concerning public school finance and the Long Bill
Representative Massey, Chair, called the meeting to order and welcomed the audience members and the presenters to the meeting. He invited Leanne Emm to the table to present.
Leanne Emm, Assistant Commissioner for Public School Finance, CDE, came to the table to brief the committee on public school finance. She provided a handout (Attachment A). Ms. Emm discussed total program funding and how the School Finance Act formula is used to calculate total program funding. She said that total program funding is equal to the funded pupil count multiplied by formula per pupil funding, plus at-risk funding and plus on-line and ASCENT funding. She stated that once total program funding is calculated, the negative factor is applied. She stated that base per pupil funding is adjusted by factors such as cost of living, personnel and non-personnel costs, and size of district.
07:45 AM
Ms. Emm responded to questions from the committee. She continued her presentation, referring to page 11 of the handout (Attachment A) and explained the graph, saying that the dark bars represent total program funding prior to any legislative action. She stated that districts have been receiving cuts in per pupil funding and that even though the statewide per pupil average remains the same, all districts will see some change in their per pupil funding.
Representative Beezley asked about student fees that are collected. Ms. Emm stated that those fees are purely local revenue. Ms. Emm continued her presentation, discussing the difference between level funding and flat funding. She discussed the sources of funds for total program funding which include: 53 percent from the State General Fund, 34 percent from property taxes, 3 percent from specific ownership taxes, and 10 percent from other state funds. She discussed the flow of funds to school districts, stating that money goes from the State Education Fund, State General Fund, and the Public School Fund, into the State Public School Fund, and is dispersed from the State Public School Fund to each district.
07:57 AM
Ms. Emm continued, discussing the creation of the State Education Fund, which was established by Amendment 23. She added that the fund is also used to support educational expenditures, not just the School Finance Act. She discussed the Public School Fund, which was established in the Colorado Constitution and includes moneys from lands that were set aside to support common schools, when Colorado became a state. She stated that state lands generate different types of income. Ms. Emm discussed categorical funding, which she stated is in addition to total program funding and includes funding for categorical programs such as special education programs, English language proficiency programs, public school transportation, career and technical education programs, programs for gifted and talented students, and other programs. She discussed the gap in categorical funding, noting that some of the programs that are included under categorical programming are mandated by the federal government.
Representative Solano asked if school districts are responsible for filling the categorical funding gaps. Ms. Emm responded in the affirmative. Committee discussion with Ms. Emm about categorical funding ensued.
08:07 AM
Representative Massey welcomed Representative Gerou and Senator Steadman, members of the JBC, to the table to join the discussion. Representative Massey thanked the JBC for their work. Senator Steadman discussed categorical program funding, stating that Amendment 23 makes it clear that categorical funding must increase by inflation each year and that the increment of increase must be allocated among categorical programs. He stated that the JBC has been favoring the special education and English language proficiency programs as they are the most severely underfunded of the categorical programs.
Representative Massey asked about the growth of the special education and English language learner population. Carolyn Kampman, JBC staff, responded to the question. Ms. Emm returned to the table to respond, saying that the special education population has remained flat in terms of growth but that the severity of needs has increased, costing more money.
Representative Hamner asked about funding for the Colorado Preschool Program (CPP). Senator Steadman responded that the state currently funds 20,000 slots. Ms. Emm stated that there is a waitlist of about 7,800 students for the CPP.
Representative Murray asked how categorical moneys are tracked by the state and how the state ensures that those moneys are going towards the categorical program that they were intended for. Ms. Emm responded that the districts are required to report their expenditures through the automated data exchange system.
Representative Massey asked Representative Gerou and Senator Steadman to speak to higher education in regards to funding. Representative Gerou stated that the goal of the JBC this year was to hold harmless as much in K-12 education as possible by keeping the same per pupil funding level as the previous year. She stated that higher education is another story, and discussed the Governor's budget request, noting the $60 million in proposed cuts to higher education that came from the Governor's office. She added that through the process, higher education is about $7 or $8 million shy of where it was last year.
Representative Hamner asked how Colorado can leverage more federal funding for mandatory categorical programs. Senator Steadman responded. Representative Gerou commented about the state's recovery and tentative financial position. She added that Europe is now officially in a recession and that the price of natural gas is low, and stated that the money that people thought would be there from Colorado's lands may not be as great as expected.
08:42 AM
Representative Massey thanked the presenters and the committee adjourned.