Today, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed a lower court's finding that our state's public school financing system violates the constitutional requirement that all students receive a "thorough and uniform education."
In a scathing dissent, Chief Justice Bender wrote that "a thorough and uniform system of education must include the availability of qualified teachers, up-to-date textbooks, access to modern technology, and safe and healthy facilities in which to learn. The record, however, reveals an education system that is fundamentally broken. It is plagued by underfunding and marked by gross funding disparities among districts." Justice Hobbs also dissented and criticized a regressive system that pays less for students in poorer counties. Colorado is one of the wealthiest states in the nation but ranks 49th in per-pupil spending.
Click here to read the full opinion from State v. Lobato, 2013 CO 30.
