Superintendent attends signing of school-funding bill
On Thursday, Gov. Jared Polis signed the new School Finance Act which changes the way Colorado schools are funded. Last summer, Superintendent Dan Snowberger was appointed to a school finance task force to study how Colorado schools could be more equitably funded. For 30 years, schools have been funded based on a formula which led to inequitable funding -- large, urban districts received adequate resources but rural and high-poverty districts often were left out of the equation.
As a result of the school finance task force work, Speaker of the House Julie McCluskie (D), Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen (R) and several other legislators proposed House Bill 24-1448, which changed the way school funding was determined. It drives funding based on student need. Snowberger and others on the task force worked alongside these legislators to win overwhelming bipartisan support for the legislation in both the House and Senate and were proud to bring about passage of the legislation.
Snowberger and task force members were invited by the governor and other legislators to be present at the bill signing Thursday at Virginia Court Elementary School in Aurora. The new school-finance law will increase funding to rural districts and districts with greater at-risk populations across Colorado.
Photos below show, from left, Snowberger, center, with McCluskie and Denver Public Schools CFO Chuck Carpenter; Gov. Polis addressing the attendees of the bill signing; and Polis signing the bill.