JOINT RELEASE: 2026 School Finance Act Signed Into Law

DENVER, CO – Today the bipartisan 2026 School Finance Act was signed into law. SB26-023, sponsored by Senator Chris Kolker, D-Centennial, and Representatives Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs, and Emily Sirota, D-Denver, drives $180 million more to Colorado’s K-12 public schools for the 2026-27 school year.

“As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, upholding our promise to Colorado students, teachers, and schools is my number one priority,” said Kolker. “During an extremely challenging budget year, we worked hard to ensure we don’t backslide on the important progress we’ve made to eliminate the Budget Stabilization Factor and drive more funding to our schools. While there is much more work to do to ensure Colorado is a national leader in public education funding, I’m proud that despite budgetary constraints we were successfully able to increase per-pupil funding and protect funding for Colorado’s public schools.”

“The 2026 School Finance Act, which makes meaningful investments in K-12 education and keeps the student-centered formula in place, is now law,” said Sirota. “We were forced to make painful decisions because of our TABOR limit and Colorado’s budget deficit. However, we were able to protect core education funding. We’ve taken bold action to drive more dollars to our public schools, and I’m deeply proud of that work. This year’s school finance act builds upon Colorado Democrats' mission to fully fund our schools, increase teacher pay and set our students up for a lifetime of success.” 

“As any teacher will tell you, fully funded schools make all the difference to our students, and I’m thrilled to help deliver record funding to K-12 education with the 2026 School Finance Act,” said Lukens. “Despite budgetary constraints, we still delivered record investments in K-12 education and increased per-pupil funding. The 2026 School Finance Act boosts per-pupil funding by $449, bringing the total per-pupil funding to $12,325. There is more work to be done to fully fund our schools, but this year’s school finance act is an important step in the right direction.”

Also sponsored by Senator Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, SB26-023 sets statewide per-pupil funding at $12,325 for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, an increase of $449 as compared to FY 2025-2026 funding levels, bringing total K-12 funding for the upcoming fiscal year to $10.2 billion and increasing total program funding by $180.79 million.

The General Fund contribution to K-12 education is increasing significantly thanks to the Kids Matter Fund created by Democrats last year, which is forecast to invest more than $216 million in Colorado’s schools next year. 

Under SB26-023, the new school finance formula (HB24-1448) is implemented at 30 percent and includes a three-year averaging model to help stabilize school funding in a declining enrollment environment. This follows requirements in last year’s School Finance Act that phased in the implementation of the new school funding formula at 15 percent per year for six years, and then 10 percent for the final seventh year of implementation.

This year, Democrats also increased funding by $14 million to continue free preschool access for all Colorado kids and increased funding by $38 million to implement the voter-approved Proposition MM to preserve access to free school meals for students. Since the 2020-2021 academic year, Democrats have increased total program funding from $7.2 billion to $10.2 billion for the upcoming year despite a declining enrollment environment. Per-pupil funding has increased from $8,100 to $12,300 in that time as well.