Historical public education information in Colorado, 2011-2013

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

This page contains archived information on Colorado's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view Colorado's public education page.

The Colorado public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 Colorado had 854,265 students enrolled in a total of 1,813 schools in 259 school districts. There were 48,078 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 18 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 302 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average Colorado spent $8,724 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 42nd highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 75 percent in 2012.

State agencies

See also: Colorado Department of Education

The mission statement of the Colorado Department of Education reads:

“

The mission of the Colorado Department of Education is to ensure that all students are prepared for success in society, work, and life by providing excellent leadership, service, and support to schools, districts, and communities across the state.

”

The Commissioner of Education the Department of Education's executive officer. The Commissioner of Education is appointed by the Colorado State Board of Education. Robert Hammond served in this role as of 2014.

The Colorado Board of Education is "charged by the Colorado Constitution with the general supervision of the public schools." The board's seven members are elected from each of the state's congressional districts. The Commissioner of Education serves as a non-voting member of the board.

Regional comparison

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how Colorado compared to three neighboring states during the 2011-2012 school year with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012
State	Schools	Districts	Students	Teachers	Teacher/pupil ratio	Administrator/pupil ratio	Per pupil spending
Colorado	1,813	259	854,265	48,078	1:17.8	1:301.9	$8,724
New Mexico	866	135	337,225	21,957	1:15.4	1:253.4	$9,070
Utah	1,020	126	598,832	25,970	1:23.1	1:450.2	$6,212
Wyoming	354	61	90,099	7,847	1:11.5	1:248.3	$15,849
United States	98,328	17,992	49,521,669	3,103,263	1:16	1:295.2	$10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a. National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12" U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Demographics

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in Colorado as reported in the Common Core of Data for 2011-2012.

Demographic information for Colorado's K-12 public school system, 2011-2012
Ethnicity	Students	State percentage	United States percentage**
American Indian	7,143	0.84%	1.10%
Asian	26,522	3.10%	4.68%
African American	40,932	4.79%	15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.	1,817	0.21%	0.42%
Hispanic	272,490	31.90%	24.37%
White	479,288	56.11%	51.21%
Two or more	26,073	3.05%	2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

Enrollments by region type

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

In the 2011-2012 school year a plurality of students in Colorado attended city schools. More than 65 percent of the state's students attended city or suburban schools, compared to the approximately 35 percent who attended rural or town schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)
State	City schools	Suburban schools	Town schools	Rural schools
Colorado	33.3%	32.6%	10.3%	23.8%
New Mexico	32.6%	11.9%	27.4%	28.1%
Utah	16.5%	50.9%	12.9%	19.7%
Wyoming	22.8%	1.7%	42.3%	33.2%
U.S. average	28.9%	34%	11.6%	25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

Academic performance

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), Colorado's fourth and eighth grade students fared the best in both mathematics and reading for the 2012-2013 school year.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Colorado	50%	42%	41%	40%
New Mexico	31%	23%	21%	22%
Utah	44%	36%	37%	39%
Wyoming	48%	38%	37%	38%
U.S. average	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Colorado and surrounding states during 2012 and 2013.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*
State	Graduation rate, 2012		Average ACT composite, 2012		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Colorado	75%	Fourth	20.6	100%	1,721	14%
New Mexico	70%	Fifth	19.9	75%	1,626	12%
Utah	80%	Third	20.7	97%	1,684	6%
Wyoming	79%	Third	20.3	100%	1,757	4%
U.S. average	80%		21.1		1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation). **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Colorado was higher than the national average at 5.1 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 4.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

Educational choice options

See also: School choice in Colorado

As of June 2015, school choice options in Colorado included: charter schools, a limited, location-specific voucher program, open enrollment policies and online learning programs. In addition, about 6.50 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-12 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in 2012-13.

Education funding and expenditures

See also: Colorado state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), Colorado spent approximately 25.3 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was down 5.7 percentage points, or 18.4 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 31.0 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.

Comparison of financial figures for school systems
State	Percent of budget (2012)	Per pupil spending (2011)	Revenue sources (2011)
			Percent federal funds	Percent state funds	Percent local funds
Colorado	25.3%	$8,724	11.18%	40.41%	48.41%
New Mexico	24.7%	$9,070	17.66%	65.78%	16.55%
Utah	24.7%	$6,212	12.02%	51.19%	36.79%
Wyoming	3.9%	$15,849	9.41%	53.37%	37.22%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

Revenue breakdowns

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in Colorado totaled approximately $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including revenue sources, for Colorado and surrounding states.

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	Federal revenue	State revenue	Local revenue	Total revenue
Colorado	$979,904	$3,543,208	$4,245,132	$8,768,244
New Mexico	$641,925	$2,390,635	$601,508	$3,634,068
Utah	$519,547	$2,211,870	$1,589,706	$4,321,123
Wyoming	$154,955	$878,979	$612,931	$1,646,865
U.S. total	$74,943,767	$267,762,416	$264,550,594	$607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Expenditure breakdowns

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in Colorado totaled approximately $8.7 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table below presents further detail, including expenditure types, for Colorado and surrounding states.

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)
	General expenditures**	Capital outlay	Other***	Total expenditures
Colorado	$7,338,499	$836,045	$521,460	$8,696,004
New Mexico	$3,045,075	$621,504	$66,091	$3,732,670
Utah	$3,600,074	$693,458	$234,361	$4,527,893
Wyoming	$1,397,339	$234,408	$10,504	$1,642,251
U.S. total	$520,577,893	$52,984,139	$29,581,293	$603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools. ***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures. Source: National Center for Education Statistics

Personnel salaries

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in Colorado, the average salary decreased by 4.4 percent.

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)
	1999-2000	2009-2010	2011-2012	2012-2013	Percent difference
Colorado	$52,153	$52,520	$49,865	$49,844	-4.4%
New Mexico	$44,488	$49,378	$46,381	$46,573	4.7%
Utah	$47,757	$48,980	$48,961	$49,393	3.4%
Wyoming	$46,638	$59,628	$58,174	$57,920	24.2%
U.S. average	$57,133	$58,925	$56,340	$56,383	-1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

Organizations

Unions

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. Colorado ranked 35th overall, or "weak," which was in the fourth of five tiers.

The main unions related to the Colorado school system are the Colorado Education Association (CEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), and the Colorado Federation of Teachers. CEA is the largest education association in the state. For the 2003 tax period CEA had: $10.5 million in total revenue, $10.1 million in total expenses and $7.9 million in total assets. For the same period, the Colorado Federation of Teachers had: $213,403 in total revenue, $221,663 in total expenses and $157,369 in total assets.

List of local Colorado school unions:

• Colorado Education Association
• Colorado Federation of Teachers
• Denver Classroom Teachers Association
• Colorado Springs Education Association
• Boulder Valley Education Association
• Pueblo Education Association
• Denver Federation of Teachers
• Cherry Creek Education Association
• Thompson Education Association
• Aurora Education Association

Government sector lobbying

See also: Colorado government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the Colorado Association of School Boards. Below is a list of major Colorado education government sector lobbying organizations:

• Colorado Association of School Executives
• Jefferson County Education Association
• Public Educators Advocating for Kids

Transparency

On June 4, 2009, Governor Ritter signed Colorado House Bill 1288, the "Colorado Taxpayer Transparency Act," into law. HB 1288 mandated the creation of an online spending database by no later than January 2010.

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

See also

• Public education in Colorado
• Colorado
• Education Policy in the U.S.