Colorado Revised Statutes Title 2. Legislative § 2-2-2002. Issues to study--recommendations to general assembly--legislative declaration

(a) How to modernize the “Public School Finance Act of 1994” to make the school finance formula more transparent, equitable, and student-centered;

(b) Whether the current method for identifying at-risk pupils is an appropriate, accurate method for identifying and weighting students who, because of their life circumstances, are in greater need of services and supports to give them opportunities equal to those of their peers to achieve their academic potential, and, if not, the appropriate method for allocating additional resources to those pupils, which method may be informed by the poverty study commissioned pursuant to section 2-2-2003;

(c) Whether to redesign the allocation of funding in the school finance formula for school district cost-of-living and personnel costs to limit funding to only significantly high-cost school districts though the creation of a fixed amount of additional per pupil funding for high-cost school districts;

(d) The appropriate method to address small, remote, and rural school district funding, including whether a different weight should be applied in the school finance formula for the size factor for small, remote school districts and whether to redesign the distribution of rural school funding received pursuant to section 22-54-142;

(e) Alternative educator support for school districts for teaching students enrolled in kindergarten through second grade;  and

(f) The benefits and challenges of incorporating special education services funding into the school finance formula.

(2)(a) The general assembly finds and declares that dramatic differences in local property wealth and the ability of some school districts to obtain voter approval to collect property tax revenue in addition to that provided by total program mill levies has led to inequity in the amount of funding available to serve students in school districts throughout the state. To lessen this inequity, it is appropriate to identify one or more methods by which to support efforts by low-property wealth districts to support the needs of their students through mill levy overrides for operating purposes.

(b) Therefore, in addition to the issues specified in subsection (1) of this section, the interim committee shall design and recommend a program beginning in the 2022-23 budget year to support students by assisting low-property wealth school districts in obtaining voter approval for additional mill levies pursuant to section 22-54-108 by providing state matching money. In designing the program, the interim committee shall consider:

(c) The interim committee may introduce legislation pursuant to section 2-2-2001 to implement the program designed and recommended by the interim committee pursuant to this subsection (2).