Colorado Schools

    Colorado received almost $165 million in federal aid from the No Child Left Behind act, and over $115 million was sent to Title I schools—schools that receive funding to help low-income students. As of March 2006, 44.4% of students are in Title I schools. However, with approximately 780,000 students and 44,657 teachers, creating a low student-teacher ratio. Because of this low ratio, as well as raising student performance, Colorado ranked at 23 of 50 in the 2005-06 “Smart Student” rankings by Morgan Quinto.

In a recent survey, parents and educators said safety in schools is the top issue that should be addressed, but everyone differs on how to measure success. In four years of NCLB, the number of schools rating “Excellent” grew from 129 to 200. To improve student performance for NCLB, Colorado schools and administrators are encouraging parents to participate in their students’ school experience.

Last year, public schools received $3.5 billion in state assistance (not including federal funds), spending more than $7500 per student.

In addition to serving the K-12 education system, the Colorado Department of Education also oversees adult education and family literacy and the state’s the public libraries. For more information, Colorado’s education website is http://www.cde.state.co.us.