1988: Public School Finance Act of 1988

The 1988 Act established the new goal of funding an adequate level of education for every student in the state, regardless of local wealth and costs.  The 1988 Act also sought to address tax equity issues by seeking to balance the K-12 funding responsibility equally...

1982: Gallagher Amendment

Colorado voters adopt the “Gallagher” amendment to the state constitution which begins a long-term erosion of the local residential property tax base on which schools depend for local funding.   Local governments counter this erosion of their property tax base by...

Public School Finance Act of 1973

With the passage of the “Public School Finance Act of 1973”, the Colorado legislature took its first cut at adopting a comprehensive modern school finance system which attempted to equalize funding in the school districts across the state regardless of the property...

1867 (statehood)

Colorado’s constitution requires the state to provide a public education system that is free and uniform. Before 1973, funding for K-12 is primarily based on LOCAL property taxes and therefore funding decisions were also made locally.   Not surprisingly, the wealthier...

Education-Funding

The largest expense item in the General Fund budget is the state’s share of K-12 Education, representing almost 40% of the annual budget. The state currently pays for about 70% of total K-12 Education costs while local governments pay for the remaining 30%. The amount...