2026-27 School Finance JBC Briefing Summary.pdf (190 KB)

This is the text extracted from the file, without its layout, tables, or images. Use the original for anything that matters.

FY 2026-27 Budget Briefing Summary Education The Department of Education supports the State Board of Education in its duty to exercise general supervision over public schools, including accrediting public schools and school districts. The Department develops and maintains state model content standards, administers associated assessments, distributes state and federal funds to school districts, and administers a variety of education-related programs. The Department’s FY 2025-26 appropriation represents 27.6 percent of statewide General Fund appropriations. This document covers the Public School Finance and Categorical Programs subdivisions of the School District Operations division of the Department of Education. Other divisions and subdivisions will be addressed in a separate staff briefing.

Summary of Request Department of Education Total Funds

General Fund [2]

Cash Funds

Reapprop. Funds

Federal Funds

FTE

FY 2025-26 Appropriation SB25-206 (Long Bill) Other legislation

$7,756,003,663 -66,599,874

$4,711,597,574 -41,603,376

$2,139,481,573 -25,246,498

$55,664,660 250,000

$849,259,856 0

742.3 9.1

Total

$7,689,403,789

$4,669,994,198

$2,114,235,075

$55,914,660

$849,259,856

751.4

$4,669,994,198

$2,114,235,075

$55,914,660

$849,259,856

751.4

50,000,000

116,990,163

0.0

0 -3,916,033

14,539,542 0

0 0

0.0 0.0

450,000

0.0

-950,000

0.0

-233,273

0.0

-100,000 -202,079

0 -92,292

0 -8,646

0 -41,996

0.0 0.0

47,603

0.0

2,462,638 -295,487

900,472 18,600

869,828 -1,344

1,572,140 12,886

0.0 0.0

356,101 -5,858,862

2,086 5,133,999

1,731 0

8,034 0

1.8 -2.7

$4,712,488,079

$2,250,994,372

$56,776,229

$850,810,920

750.5

Item

FY 2026-27 Requested Appropriation FY 2025-26 Appropriation $7,689,403,789 R1 State share of total program [1] 166,990,163 R2 Categorical programs increase [1] 14,539,542 R3 CSI Mill Levy Equalization -3,916,033 R4 BEST assessment IT system 450,000 R5 READ Act awareness campaign and evaluation -950,000 R6 Restructuring social studies assessment -233,273 R7 Local Accountability Grant Program reduction -100,000 R8 Administrative efficiencies -345,013 R9 CSDB teacher salary increase 47,603 Employee compensation common policies 5,805,078 Operating common policies -265,345 Impacts driven by other agencies 367,952 Prior year actions [1] -724,863 Total

[2-Dec-2025]

$7,871,069,600

Education

Item Increase/-Decrease Percentage Change

Total Funds $181,665,811 2.4%

General Fund [2]

Cash Funds

$42,493,881 0.9%

Reapprop. Funds

$136,759,297 6.5%

$861,569 1.5%

Federal Funds

FTE

$1,551,064 0.2%

-0.9 -0.1%

[1] Items addressed in this document. Other requests will be addressed in separate staff briefings. [2] Includes General Fund Exempt.

Changes are assumed to be ongoing unless otherwise noted. R1 State share of total program [legislation]: The Executive Branch’s school finance request proposes implementing the new formula as planned for FY 2026-27 but anticipates pausing implementation for FY 202728. Year 1: A net increase of $167.0 million. This includes increases of $50.0 million General Fund, $45.3 million from the State Education Fund, and $71.7 million from the State Public School Fund. Year 2: Anticipates a General Fund increase of $275.0 million above the FY 2026-27 request and a pause in the implementation of the new school finance formula. See the first issue brief in this document for a detailed discussion of the school finance formula. R2 Categorical programs increase: The Department requests $14.5 million to meet its constitutional requirement1 to increase categorical programs by at least the rate of inflation each year. The request is based on the Office of State Planning and Budgeting’s (OSPB) estimated 2.6 percent inflation rate and will be paid from the State Education Fund. The requested increase for each categorical program line is shown below. See the second issue brief in this document for a detailed discussion of categorical program funding. R2 Requested Increases in State Funding for Categorical Programs Long Bill Line Item Special Education - Children with Disabilities English Language Proficiency Program Public School Transportation Career and Technical Education Programs Special Education - Gifted and Talented Children Expelled and At-risk Student Services Grant Program Small Attendance Center Aid Comprehensive Health Education Total

FY 2025-26 Appropriation $388,694,798 35,866,264 72,973,821 32,689,057 16,793,762 9,473,039 1,606,548 1,115,829

FY 2026-27 Request $398,800,863 36,555,792 75,256,184 33,769,287 17,167,234 9,478,248 1,607,186 1,117,866

Change in State Funding $10,106,065 689,528 2,282,363 1,080,230 373,472 5,209 638 2,037

Percent Change 2.6% 1.9% 3.1% 3.3% 2.2% 0.1% 0.0% 0.2%

$559,213,118

$573,752,660

$14,539,542

2.6%

Prior year actions: The request for School District Operations - subdivisions (A) Public School Finance and (B) Categorical Programs includes a net decrease of $15.9 million for the impact of prior year budget decisions and legislation. However, staff has noted an error of -$13.9 million from the State Education Fund related to H.B. 251320 (School Finance Act). The adjustment for total program savings attributable to H.B. 25-1320 was also included in calculations for R1 and is therefore double counted. The Department indicates that it will submit a corrected budget amendment in January.

Colorado Constitution, Article IX, Section 17, created by Amendment 23

[2-Dec-2025]

Education

Prior year actions Item SB 23-287 School Finance Act FY 25-26 Salary survey FY 25-26 Step Plan HB 25-1320 School Finance Act Total

Total Funds $1,058,115 320,267 74,320 -17,365,530 -$15,912,828

General Fund $0 40,340 6,259 0 $46,599

Cash Funds $1,058,115 6,531 2,144 -17,365,530 -$16,298,740

Reapprop. Funds $0 0 0 0 $0

Federal Funds

FTE 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

$0 273,396 65,917 0 $339,313

Issues Presented This is a summary of the briefing issues presented to the Joint Budget Committee by their dedicated nonpartisan staff. R1 State Share of Total Program: Current law requires the General Assembly to implement the new school finance formula at 30 percent in FY 2026-27 while allowing up to 3-year averaging for student counts. The Executive Budget Request does not propose any changes for FY 2026-27, but anticipates that implementation of the new formula will be paused in FY 2027-28. This issue brief compares the request to projections using Legislative Council Staff modeling and assumptions. R2 Categorial Programs Increase: The Colorado Constitution requires the total amount of state funding appropriated for categorical programs to annually increase by at least the rate of inflation, estimated at $14.5 million in FY 2026-27. This issue brief demonstrates options for allocating the inflationary increase among categorical programs and discusses challenges related to special education funding. Budget Reduction Options: The Executive Budget Request does not include reductions to this part of the budget in FY 2026-27. This issue brief discusses two options for savings related to the school finance formula identified by staff.

For More Information JBC Staff Analyst: Andrea Uhl (303) 866-4956 Andrea.uhl@coleg.gov To read the entire briefing: Go to https://content.leg.colorado.gov/content/budget#budget-documents-section to use the budget document search tool. Select this department's name under Department/Topic, "Briefing" under Type, and select a Start date and End date to show documents released in November and December of 2025.

[2-Dec-2025]

Education