Since Colorado contributes so little financial support to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE – which is largely funded with federal programs), it has jokingly been called “the Federal Department of Education in Colorado (or Denver).” A new report, which is worth reading if you are interested in the role of CDE, demonstrates why this is nearly true.
The report, recently prepared for CDE by WestEd, compares CDE to a few other state education departments. It also digs deeper into the question of how the budget can be better aligned with Commissioner Dwight Jones’ new vision, as articulated in CDE’s new Forward Thinking strategic planning document.
Only 1.5% of Colorado’s support for K12 education goes to CDE operations, a much lower percentage than in some comparable states like Louisiana (2.7%), Maryland (4.1%) and South Carolina (5.3%). The report does not rank all 50 states, but spotlights a few comparisons.
In addition, CDE staff is mostly supported from federal grant money. The report notes that about 25% of CDE staff are supported by state money, and fully 75% are supported by federal grants.
These figures are not very different from a study in the late 1990s, which showed CDE about 43rd in the nation in personnel support for school operations.
It may be reasonable that in a local control education state like Colorado, the state education agency does fewer things and is relatively smaller than in the 42 states with (relatively) more state power and control. But most education reforms, including No Child Left Behind, are requiring a bigger role for states, and limited capacity at the state level does not allow states to perform that role effectively.
A level of 1.5% state expenditure for CDE seems “penny wise and pound foolish” when the state now contributes more than 60% of the non-federal funds for Colorado’s K12 education.
As the report also notes, the heavy dependence upon federal funds within CDE inevitably has steered the agency towards a federal regulatory and accounting role with Colorado districts, rather than the kind of leadership and district assistance role that Commission Jones envisions.
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