Denver District Court Order

DISTRICT COURT, DENVER COUNTY, COLORADO

Denver City and County Building1437 Bannock St.Denver, Colorado 80202

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COURT USE ONLY

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Plaintiffs:

ANTHONY LOBATO, et al., and

Plaintiff-Intervenors:

ARMANDINA ORTEGA, et al.

v.

Defendants:

THE STATE OF COLORADO, et al.

Case No. 2005CV4794Div. 424

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1FINDINGS OF FACT....................................................................................................................1I. PARTIES............................................................................................................................1A. Individual Plaintiffs...............................................................................................1B. School District Plaintiffs........................................................................................4C. Plaintiff-Intervenors………..................................................................................4D. Defendants..............................................................................................................8II. A THOROUGH AND UNIFORM SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION..................8A.

The Importance of a Public Education................................................................8B.

The Meaning of a Thorough and Uniform System of Public Education........10C.

Education Reform: HB 93-1313 and the Inception of Standards-Based Education...................................................................................................12D.

Education Reform: The Expansion of Content Standards andAssessments..........................................................................................................15E.

Education Reform: School District Accountability and Accreditation.........15F.

Education Reform: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001............................17G.

Education Reform: The Preschool to Postsecondary EducationAlignment Act (CAP4K)......................................................................................20H.

Education Reform: The Education Accountability Act of 2009.....................25I.

Education Reform: The Educator Effectiveness Act of 2010(SB 10-191)............................................................................................................29J.

Summary...............................................................................................................29III. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE SYSTEM............................................................30A.

The Public School Finance Act of 1994: Total Program Funding..................30B.

The Public School Finance Act of 1994: State and Local Share.....................32C.

The Public School Finance Act of 1994: Override Mill Levies.......................32D.

Categorical Program Funding............................................................................34E.

Capital Construction Funding; Bonded Indebtedness.....................................34F.

Declining Enrollment...........................................................................................35G.

Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES)......................................35IV. ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SCHOOL FINANCESYSTEM AND A THOROUGH AND UNIFORM SYSTEM OF PUBLICEDUCATION...................................................................................................................35V. UNDERFUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION...........................................................40A.

The APA Study: General....................................................................................40B.

The APA Study: The Successful School District Approach............................42C.

The APA Study: The Professional Judgment Approach................................42D.

The APA Study: Conclusions.............................................................................43

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E.

Costing-out Estimates by Voreta Herrmann.....................................................45F.

Underfunding of the Colorado Department of Education...............................45G.

Gifts, Grants and Donations...............................................................................46H.

CAP4K Funding...................................................................................................48I.

SB 191 Funding....................................................................................................48VII. SCHOOL FUNDING LEVELS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ONEDUCATIONAL QUALITY..........................................................................................49VIII. COLORADO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT ...............................................................54A.

Student Achievement Levels...............................................................................55B.

Achievement Gap.................................................................................................56C.

Graduation Rates.................................................................................................57D.

Post-secondary and College Readiness..............................................................57IX. FACTORS THAT IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.......................................59A.

Plaintiffs’ Expert Witness, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond...............................59B.

Teacher Quality....................................................................................................60C.

Professional Development...................................................................................62D.

Class Size...............................................................................................................64X. LOCAL CONTROL OF INSTRUCTION....................................................................65XI. SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS: EARLY CHILDHOODEDUCATION...................................................................................................................65A.

Trial Witnesses.....................................................................................................65B.

Impacts of Preschool Education.........................................................................66C.

Characteristics of Effective Preschool Programs..............................................68D.

Colorado’s Preschool Program...........................................................................69E.

Full-Day Kindergarten........................................................................................74F.

Early Childhood Conclusions and Recommendations.....................................76XII. SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS: SPECIAL EDUCATION..........................77A. Plaintiffs’ Witnesses.............................................................................................77B. Background..........................................................................................................78C. Special Education Funding.................................................................................80D. Achievement of Students with Disabilities.........................................................84E. State and District Compliance with IDEA Requirements................................85F. Response to Intervention.....................................................................................87G. Personnel Shortages.............................................................................................87H. Charter Schools....................................................................................................88I. CDE Support........................................................................................................88J. Other Special Needs Issues..................................................................................88XIII. SPECIAL STUDENT POPULATIONS: GIFTED AND TALENTEDEDUCATION...................................................................................................................89