Celebrating Successes, Reflecting on Progress

As we close in on the end of another school year, I wanted to take a moment to step back and reflect on the year that was. It can be easy in the day-to-day to focus primarily on the myriad challenges confronting us as schools and as a sector – political headwinds, staffing shortages, declining statewide enrollment, bleak budgetary projections – but what gets lost in that is the many tremendous things we’re accomplishing together despite all these challenges. And the fact of the matter is, we’re making important strides and significant progress, and we should make sure to elevate that at least as much as the uncertainties that surround us.

With that as a pretext, I offer the following look-back at the year that was and a handful of the key highlights that have defined the year for Colorado’s charter community:

Quality

Any conversation about highlights has to start with a focus on quality and the results we’re getting for kids. After all, why else are we in this work if not to ensure we’re providing every student, regardless of background, access to opportunity and advancement? That’s why I was so encouraged to see the following results from the state’s most recent School Performance Framework (SPF) rollout in the fall:

Colorado’s charters reached new heights of quality this year, with nearly 90% of students attending top-rated schools and nearly 80% of low-income students doing the same.

These are some of the highest numbers we’ve seen in tracking this data over the years, and while there’s always more work to be done to ensure as many Colorado students as possible are getting access to the high-quality education they deserve, it’s also important to step back and take note of this important achievement.

Growth

We also saw continued growth in the sector this year, which is particularly noteworthy given the backdrop against which it occurred. Charter numbers were up modestly (0.3%), but that becomes all the more significant when you consider the fact that non-charter public schools saw an historic decline of over 10,000 students.

In fact, over the past decade alone, non-charters statewide have declined by over 55,000 students (-7%) while charters have grown by nearly 16,000 (+13%).

It’s clear, based on these numbers, that students and families are looking for more out of public education, and your schools are on the front lines of providing it. And at 27 new and expanding schools now receiving over $35M in Great Schools Colorado support from the League, we’re grateful to be a partner in this vital work.

Legislative Wins

Last but not least – and as you may have seen in our legislative recap from earlier this week – we continued to make critical forward progress at the Capitol in such key areas as funding, facilities, and flexibility. Given our current fiscal and political environment, none of this was assured going in, but despite these challenges, we managed to:

• Pass proactive legislation (SB26-145) to meaningfully strengthen the process whereby districts should include their charters in local district bond initiatives moving forward.
• In one of the most challenging budget years in recent memory ($1.2B deficit), we fended off all attempts at cutting charter funding (Charter Capital Construction, CSI Equalization, part-time enrichment) while at the same time adding funding to CSI Mill Equalization in order to maintain the state’s commitment to full equalization; in the session’s final days, we also secured a deal that should result in over $70M new dollars coming into the charter community next year relative to last, a significant boost as compared with the flat budgeting we’d been expecting and advising for months.
• Additionally, we passed proactive legislation focused on removing needless regulatory burdens (HB26-1299) as well as legislation focused on illuminating bright spots and best practices in public education (SB26-170) with an eye towards removing barriers that get in the way of the expansion of those same bright spots and best practices in the future.

As we approach the end of the 2025-26 school year, one thing is clear: the charter school movement in Colorado remains strong, vibrant, and dynamic. We’re a critical part of the fabric of public education in this state, and I hope you all take pride in the accomplishments reflected here. They’re as much your accomplishments as they are ours, and we couldn’t be more proud to be involved in this critical work with all of you each and every day.

Best,

Dan Schaller, President
Colorado League of Charter Schools