Colorado's K-12 federal funding ranks among lowest in the U.S.
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Colorado receives among the least federal dollars per person for its K-12 public school systems, per new census data.
Zoom in: Public schools in Colorado got $235 per person, significantly less than the $360 U.S. average.
- Only Utah ($220), Maine ($230) and New Hampshire ($234) received less money per person.
Context: The reason Colorado gets far less money compared to other states is due to how Title I, the largest federal program funding K-12 education, distributes money to schools, University of Colorado Boulder education professor Kevin Welner tells us.
- States with more poverty tend to receive more federal funding for their school districts, Welner says; Colorado by and large has relatively low poverty rates.
Threat level: Federal funding for local school districts is on shaky ground as the Trump administration looks to cut spending broadly and to use the power of the purse to influence school curriculum and other decisions.
What we're watching: Colorado could lose out on the roughly $800 million in federal funding — roughly 10% of the state's K-12 budget this year — as a result of the Trump administration's proposed cuts, per Chalkbeat.
What's next: The Trump administration is aiming to abolish the Department of Education, a move with unclear consequences for federal funding of public schools.