Colorado sets next year's K-12 education funding at more than $10 billion

Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post on May 27, 2025

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DENVER — Colorado will spend more than $10 billion on K-12 public schools during the 2025-26 fiscal year after Gov. Jared Polis signed the state’s new School Finance Act.

Individual school districts will receive the same or more money than they did this year.

The state’s $1.2 billion shortfall put a wrench in legislators’ plan to use a new funding formula they created for schools last year, which was supposed to put $500 million more toward K-12 education during a six-year period starting next fiscal year.

Unable to implement the new formula, the governor, lawmakers and school districts debated this session how Colorado determines how much per-pupil funding each K-12 system receives, namely the formula’s use of “averaging.”

The new law — House Bill 1320, which Polis signed Friday — will use a four-year enrollment average to help determine funding — a method that districts have said will help them adjust to falling K-12 enrollment, as the amount of money a school receives is based on the number of children in their classrooms. Without averaging, districts would receive less money as enrollment is falling statewide.

During the 2026-27 fiscal year, the number of years used to create an enrollment average will drop to three as long as certain measures are met, according to the new law.

“With this bill, Colorado has made good on our promise to fully fund K-12 education and meet students where they are and bolster educational outcomes across our state,” Polis said in a statement. “I appreciate the sponsors of this bill for working to increase school funding and turning on the new, student-focused school finance formula in a sustainable way.”

The bill signed by the governor sets the state’s per-pupil funding amount at about $8,691.

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