According to the Denver Post [1], a court ruling against Colorado over its funding of public schools could have multibillion-dollar consequences for the state’s budget, Yahoo! News reports. In a 183-page ruling on the Lobato vs. State of Colorado case, District Judge Sheila Rappaport called the state’s school funding system “unconscionable.” Here are some of the highlights of the ruling.
* The state’s new educational goals linking school readiness and postsecondary and workforce readiness were mandated, and sanctions against failures were implemented against school districts, Rappaport’s ruling stated. However, there was not enough money in the system to permit school districts to properly implement the standards and meet the requirements of state law and regulation. These changes have occurred during a time when Colorado has faced demographic changes that have resulted in higher numbers and concentrations of English language learners, ethnic minorities and children of poverty…