Democrats block amendment to bill

Colorado Senate Democrats, aided by a rural Republican, stripped away a contentious amendment from this year’s school funding bill thatwould have mandated school districts share local tax increases with charter schools.

The amendment was a near duplicate of separate legislation, Senate Bill 61, that the Senate approved with bipartisan support but has stalled in the state House of Representatives.

State Sen. Owen Hill, a Colorado Springs Republican and sponsor of both bills, vowed to work in the waning days of this year’s legislative session with House Democratswho have raised objections to the charter school funding bill.

“We continue to work toward a compromise that will treat all of our students in public schools equally,” he said.

The charter school funding legislation, Senate Bill 61, is this session’s most contentious education policy debate.

Supporters of the bill believe the practice of school districts withholding locally-approved tax increases, known as mill levy overrides, from charter schools is discriminatory.

Some opponents to the measure believe local school boards should have the authority to decide how to spend that money— not the state.

The local tax increases generally go to specific programs such as funding fullday kindergarten or teacher training. The tax increases have become popular among school districts as state funding has lagged. Senate Bill 61 in its current form would only require school districts to share funding with a charter school if they offer a similar program the taxes are earmarked for.

The annual school funding bill, which passed on a voice vote, is necessary to divide the state tax dollars among Colorado’s 178 school districts. Friday’s de- bate is not the first time the routine bill has become political. Last year, a bipartisan group of legislators attempted to amend similar charter school funding language into the 2016 school funding bill.

Luke Ragland, president of Ready Colorado, a conservative education reform nonprofit that championed the charter school legislation, called Friday’s debate a “devastating blow.”

“Thosewho voted to strip equal funding for charter students sent a clear message that they think some students deserve less,” he said.

But opponents to the charter school funding bill said they were pleased to see the mandate removed fromthe larger funding bill.

“We are happy the Senate took out the amendments related to Senate Bill 61 from the School Finance Act as we felt they didn’t belong,” saidMattCook, director of public policy and advocacy for the Colorado Association of School Boards.