Dems eye Net schools' funding

By Jennifer Brown
Denver Post Staff Writer

Democratic legislative leaders, upset about giving an extra $10 million this week for a tiny school district's online-education programs, want Colorado to tie funding to the district where students live.

It's a move that would strip millions of dollars flowing through rural districts with statewide cyberschools.

The legislature's budget committee doled out the supplemental money this week to the tiny Vilas School District in southeastern Colorado because of an unexpected increase in online students - many of whom are not Vilas residents.

Vilas has about 7,000 students, but only about 100 of them are not online.

Districts with online schools get $5,865 in state and local funding for each online student. How much of that the state covers depends on the wealth of the local tax base. The state chips in 99 percent of the cost for Vilas students but about 50 percent for Denver students.

That means the state is spending thousands of dollars more for Denver students who are enrolled in Vilas instead of Denver Public Schools.

Colorado's funding system for online education favors poorer, rural districts, which are less capable of monitoring statewide cyberschools, said state Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder.

"That's a big flaw," he said. "That sets up statewide online schools for failure, and to me, they are failing."

House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said Thursday that she will introduce legislation that says the state will pay the state's share in the district where a student lives.

"Let's not pretend here. If kids are in Denver, then Denver needs to kick in its share," she said. "I can't imagine a straight- faced argument opposing this."

But critics of the idea say it's a cheap shot aimed at charter and online schools.

"There are people out there that want to squash online schools," said Jim Griffin, executive director of the Colorado League of Charter Schools.

House Republican leader Mike May of Parker said the measure would "cut funding for at-risk students" and "abandon them back to the traditional school system."

"A child shouldn't be relegated to second-class status because of the neighborhood where their parents live," May said.

A recent state audit could not determine how many online students are at risk.

An underlying issue in the debate over school funding is a district's ability to raise property taxes, said Vody Herrmann, Colorado Department of Education school finance director.

The Taxpayer's Bill of Rights limits property-tax increases to inflation plus the number of new students. When a district loses kids, the district's ability to raise property taxes and mill levies is ratcheted down.

Madden's proposal is one of several clean-up bills this legislative session after a scathing December audit of Colorado's online education system.

The audit said the state would have saved $6.7 million if all online students attended schools within their districts last year.

Vilas approved a charter application for Hope Co-Op Online Learning Academy, which has 81 learning centers across Colorado. Half of Hope's learning centers are in Denver, some right across the street from troubled city schools.

Hope has about 3,800 students this year, its second.

Vilas, which also has its own online school, receives $5,865 in state funding per student. The district and Hope keep part of the money and the rest, $3,577 per student, goes to the learning centers.

Vilas has an annual budget of $25 million. If Madden's measure becomes law, the district's budget would drop to $15 million.

Hope spokesman Steven Shapiro said Thursday that he would not comment on Madden's proposal until it is introduced.

Vilas Superintendent Joseph Shields has said he is developing a "corrective-action plan" so the district has more oversight of Hope learning centers.

A Denver Post investigation found that in at least 17 religious schools that host Hope learning centers, students were spending about two hours in a Hope computer lab and the rest of the day attending private-school classes.

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