Resources & Opportunities for Education Advocacy

For those of you who missed the fantastic session we had with Leslie Calwell from Colorado Children’s Campaign last month, we’ve pulled together some resources as well as actionable ways you can get involved to help our schools and students get the funding that they deserve.  

Leslie presented on the complexities and inequities of school funding formula based in property taxes, as well as several intricate pieces of legislation that DSST, Colorado Children’s Campaign and other groups are advocating for.

To learn more about some of the school funding details and get the latest updates, check out these great resources:

• Resources explaining the problem:
• Four-minute total program mill explainer video Colorado Children’s Campaign created in partnership with the CO Fiscal Institute
• A one-pager explaining both total program mill and mill levy override inequity, and includes a section on the proposals the Joint Budget Committee has discussed
• 20-minute podcast explaining the mill levy/property tax problem.

• Resources explaining the proposed resolution:
• From Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB) : the resolution adopted supporting the creation of a uniform mill levy, FAQs on the topic, and school district-specific fact sheets.
• KidsFlash blog recapping this work

• Get involved:
  • Stay updated on ways to get involved by subscribing to KidsFlash
  • Subscribe to the DSST Advocacy Roundup

•  You can start advocating to end these funding inequities by contacting members of the Joint Budget Committee. They are listed below:
  • Sen. Dominick Moreno, Chair – 303-866-4857 
  • Sen. Rachel Zenzinger – 303-866-4840 
  • Sen. Bob Rankin – 303-866-5292
  • Rep. Daneya Esgar, Vice Chair – 303-866-2968
  • Rep. Chris Hansen – 303-866-2967 
  • Rep. Kim Ransom - 303-866-2933 

• To make your phone call or email easier, you can build from the below talking points:  
• My name is XXX and I’m a staff member/teacher at the Denver School of Science and Technology. [Include a sentence or two about concerns with school funding in Denver/CO in general]
• I recently learned about a proposal that has been discussed in the Joint Budget Committee that would equalize Colorado’s property tax system and bolster education funding. As you have also learned, Colorado’s foundational layer of revenue for preK-12 education requires some communities to pay a disproportionate share into the system that benefits all children. Taxpayers in some school districts pay a property tax rate that is 16 times higher than the tax rate in neighboring districts.
• I learned that there is no policy rationale for why community contributions to public education vary, and no voter ever exercised control over whether this should happen. This is just the most glaring unintended consequence of TABOR over a certain number of years.
• I hope that you will consider supporting the introduction of a proposal that would return Colorado to a system requiring consistent local investment for school finance by requiring communities with artificially low mill levies to increase those local mill levies with local voter approval.
• This is just one step you can take to help ensure that every school has an adequate amount of resources to serve their kids. Thank you!