Colorado's K-12 Education Funding Rankings (2015)

K-12 funding rankings are of perpetual interest to legislators, educators, parents, and the general public because they provide a measure to evaluate where Colorado stands nationally on education funding. However, rankings can also result in confusion because of data differences and metrics used to compare states. Legislative Council Staff calculated Colorado's K-12 funding rankings based on two common measures: per-pupil funding and funding per million dollars of personal income. Using these measures, Colorado's rank ranges from 39th to 47th in the country. This issue brief provides an overview of education funding in Colorado and an explanation of the measures used for calculating the rankings.