Education groups say the 4.6 percent cut to K-12 education proposed by Gov. Bill Ritter will mean bigger class sizes, teacher layoffs and fewer electives, resources and services.
“No one should kid themselves: These cuts are going to hurt a lot,” said Lisa Weil, policy director of Great Education Colorado.
While Ritter’s office believes it’s on sound legal footing, some say the K-12 budget is protected from cuts by Amendment 23, passed in 2000, which requires an increase in state education funding each year by at least the rate of inflation.
“If they cut the factors, then yes, it will violate Amendment 23, but we don’t know that yet,” said Jane Urschel, deputy executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards.
“Factors” help determine how much state money a district receives. They include the district’s cost of living, the number of at-risk students and its total enrollment.
In a 2003 memo, legislative attorneys said Amendment 23 does not account for factors and only “requires statewide base per pupil funding to increase, but it does not address the level of state funding for total program funding.”
Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, a member of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee who is closely involved with school finance issues, said lawmakers had included factors in making appropriations under Amendment 23 because they believed it to be the will of the voters.
What matters now, as lawmakers grapple with a $1.3 billion budget shortfall next year, Pommer said, “is the text, and that law will be a huge issue.”
Deborah Fallin, spokeswoman for the Colorado Education Association, said her organization is not focused right now on mounting a legal challenge of the K-12 budget cuts.
“We will continue to lobby to put kids first and to close every loophole and tax credit to bring money in and fund basic needs,” she said.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
