2012 Legislative Impacts
During the 2012 legislative session, the Colorado Children's Campaign worked with policymakers and coalition partners to ensure that the session was a productive one for kids at the capitol. This publication examines legislative impacts made, as well as legislative challenges and ongoing efforts.
2012 Legislative Impacts
2011 Annual Report
The 2011 Annual Report summarizes our advocacy, research, development, and outreach efforts in 2011.
2011 Annual Report: Colorado Children's Campaign by the Numbers
Alternative Education and Pathways to Success
While a traditional school environment may work well for many students, there are also many for whom it is not the right place to get a meaningful education. Alternative Education and Pathways to Success examines Colorado’s Alternative Education Campuses (AECs), compares them to other cities and states, and recommends ways that Colorado can strengthen alternative education. They include:
- Strengthening academic pipelines to ensure that if students struggle in traditional school settings they’re able to find the best alternative education options to meet their unique needs.
- Ensuring AECs are held to thoughtful accountability standards that support not only the social-emotional needs of students, but also drive academic growth and success.
- Building strong communication between General Education Diploma (GED) companies and school districts so students who pursue a GED have the support they need to be successful.
All Colorado kids deserve an education that prepares them to pursue college, careers and happiness. It is our job to ensure that happens by providing high quality educational options that meet the needs of every child. Special thanks to the JPMorgan Chase Foundation for making this report possible.
Alternative Education and Pathways to SuccessMore Information
For more information about alternative education in Colorado, please contact the Children’s Campaign’s Vice President of Education Initiatives, Leslie Colwell, at (303) 620-4534 or leslie@coloradokids.org
Colorado Turnaround Schools: Rays of Hope
This report highlights the significant progress seen two years into Colorado’s participation in federally funded school turnaround efforts, offering recommendations that can be applied elsewhere.
Colorado Turnaround Schools: Rays of HopeColorado School Finance Partnership: Report and Recommendations
Over the last several years, Colorado has emerged as a national leader in crafting innovative solutions to challenges facing its public schools and looking at new ways to provide a high-quality education to all of its students. But Colorado’s mechanism for financing its public schools, the School Finance Act (SFA), saw its last major overhaul nearly 20 years ago. From a practical perspective, this means that Colorado is still funding its schools according to formulas that were implemented before state education reform policies, No Child Left Behind, and even prior to when CSAPs became part of the state’s approach to assessing students. From a historical perspective, school financing systems are usually updated every decade, both in Colorado and across the country.
Constitutional provisions and changes in education strategies and priorities leave Colorado with a school funding mechanism that is outdated, inadequate, unequal, and unrelated to student achievement. Now is the time for Colorado to find an equitable, innovative, bi‐partisan solution to funding its schools that is aligned with goals for student achievement and, ultimately, is viable for statewide support.
Colorado School Finance Partnership: Report and RecommendationsMore Information
For more information about Colorado's work to address school finance, please contact the Children's Campaign's Vice President of Education Initiatives, Leslie Colwell, at (303) 620-4534 or leslie@coloradokids.org
For media inquiries related to the School Finance Partnership, please contact the Children's Campaign's Communications Director, Tara Manthey, at (303) 620-4544 or tara@coloradokids.org.
HB 12-1238 - Fact Sheet
HB 12-1238, the Early Literacy Act, gives teachers and school districts a number of tools track and improve early literacy. Please read this fact sheet to learn more about the legislation.
HB 12-1238 - Fact Sheet2012 Legislative Priorities
In preparation for the 2012 session of the Colorado General Assembly, the Colorado Children's Campaign has established several legislative priorities. Our focus is on protecting and advocating for the policies and investments that will provide the greatest benefits to Colorado kids.
2012 Legislative Priorities
Crossing the Finish Line
Crossing the Finish Line is the All Kids Covered Coalition's 2012 report on the status of meaningful health care coverage and access for all children in Colorado.
AKC Crossing the finish line reportColorado Children's Budget 2011
According to the Colorado Children’s Budget 2011, released December 21, 2011 by the Colorado Children’s Campaign, children have claimed a shrinking share of Colorado’s total state budget since FY 2009-10, despite a growing child population and increasing child poverty rates. The portion of the state budget supporting children’s programs and services decreased from 45.3 percent in FY 2009–10 to 41.7 percent in the current fiscal year. The Colorado Children’s Budget 2011 analyzes Colorado’s public investments in programs and services supporting children for the past five years, a period marked by a severe recession and weak economic recovery.
Over the five-year period analyzed in this report, Colorado’s investment in children’s programs grew at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent, just enough to keep pace with inflation and the growth in child population. However, the average annual growth rate was boosted due to the temporary infusion of federal dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which has now been mostly spent. Since the peak in FY 2009–10, investments in children’s programs decreased by 6.4 percent in FY 2010–11 and 4.7 percent in FY 2011–12, when taking into account inflation and the growth in child population.
Based on initial FY 2012–13 state revenue projections, possible decreases in federal support for discretionary children’s programs, and continued structural imbalances in the state budget, children’s programs are likely to face additional cuts in the upcoming year.
The Children’s Budget 2011 is intended to serve as a resource guide for policymakers and advocates who are interested in better understanding how Colorado funds children’s programs and services and to help unravel the often confusing and complicated details of the state budget. The report provides detailed information on appropriations and sources of financing for programs which help children across four domains: early childhood learning and development, health, K-12 education, and other support services.
Other key findings:
• When it comes to specific programs, appropriation data from FY 2007–08 through FY 2011–12 show that, overall, whether or not a program experienced growth hinged on one of three factors: (1) state constitutional protection; (2) dedicated cash fund revenue stream; or (3) ability to leverage substantial federal funding. If none of these exist, investments usually failed to keep pace with inflation and population.
• Colorado relies heavily on federal grants to deliver services and support for children and families and future flows of these funds are uncertain. In the current fiscal year (after most ARRA funds were spent), federal grants account for more than one-quarter of state spending on children, with the level of dependence on federal funding varying greatly by domain. Nationally, federal spending on children is projected to decline as a proportion of the federal budget.
• Programs absorbing cuts during the five-year period covered in the report include K-12 education, Early Intervention Services, the Colorado Preschool Program, the Child Care Assistance Program, summer and after-school programs, public health and prevention programming, programs enhancing economic security for low-income families with children, child welfare services, and youth corrections.
• Colorado’s constitutional fiscal constraints and its reliance on a revenue system not capable of keeping up with state program commitments continue to pose challenges to lawmakers as they struggle to balance the budget and meet the needs of Colorado’s children in a recovering, but still sluggish, economy.
Special Thanks to our sponsors - The Colorado Trust, The Colorado Health Foundation, First Focus, and The Women's Foundation of Colorado.
Colorado Children's Budget 20112011 Legislative Impacts
During the 2011 legislative session of the Colorado General Assembly, the Colorado Children's Campaign overcame a number of challenges and worked successfully with policymakers and coalition partners to improve the health, education, and well-being of Colorado’s kids.
2011 Legislative Impacts