Mill levy overrides have been the salvation of many a Colorado school district. Coming with voter approval, they have added precious dollars to school budgets at a time of limited or no increases in state funding. Their tax funds have allowed some critical programs to continue, and new ones to be put in place.
Charter schools have generally not benefitted from mill levy overrides. Whether to include charters is a district choice, and most districts have fully focused on their own needs and have not chosen to share. Durango School District 9-R was one recent exception, including charters in its successful mill levy election last November.
Some state legislators would like to mandate that charters share in the proceeds of an override. We prefer that the law remain as it is.
Charters still do not educate a large percentage of the state’s student population, but the schools are viewed with more acceptance than in the past. There is an ever-increasing appreciation for differing student learning environments and that young people learn in different ways and to some extent at different times.
While not mandating that charters participate in the results of a mill levy, we argue that the most savvy school board members and administrators will want to include them. Charters need resources, too. In the best cases, there is a collaborative effort between traditional public schools and the charters.
Charters are a place for students who do not fit into the traditional educational environment and for parents who may want to be more engaged. In some cases, students move back and forth between traditional and charter schools as their needs change.
Including charters in a mill levy also means attracting some additional “yes” voters. That could be very important.
The legislation, Senate Bill 61, requiring charters to be included in the mill levy has passed the state Senate and now moves to a House committee. Mill levy overrides have to be used for specifics purposes – full day kindergarten is a popular example – and this legislation requires that the charters use their share in the same ways. That makes sense, as that is what voters are being promised.
We think that the relationship between the traditional schools and the charters within a district ought to be strong enough that the decision will be to include the charters. Charters are guided and operated independently of the district, but the district still has the responsibility for the charters’ performance. If students are not doing well at a charter for some reason, the district has to step in.
The trend ought to be to more often include charters in a mill levy override. But let that be a local decision and not mandated by the state.
