Colorado lawmakers ended the 2026 legislative session with a set of education bills that could reshape school funding, preschool budgeting, disability-rights enforcement and higher education finance, while leaving unresolved some of the most politically sensitive questions around private-school scholarships and future budget pressure.

The session, which adjourned Wednesday, produced a wide-ranging education package in a year when state officials were trying to avoid deep cuts despite a constrained budget. Chalkbeat Colorado’s May 14 legislative roundup framed the outcome as a mix of wins, failures and deferred fights across preschool, K-12 and higher education. The final results are especially consequential because several measures now move from legislative debate to implementation by state agencies, possible action by Gov. Jared Polis, or a statewide vote in November.

The central K-12 measure was Senate Bill 26-023, the School Finance Act. According to the Colorado General Assembly’s bill summary, the legislation sets statewide base per-pupil funding for the 2026-27 budget year at $8,900.40 and total program funding at $10,189,918,642. The measure also includes technical changes to school finance, transformation grants, contingency reserve payments, postsecondary and workforce readiness distributions, and special education-related reimbursements.

House Democrats said the school finance act would drive $180 million more to Colorado’s K-12 public schools for the 2026-27 school year. For districts, the key issue is not only the increase but also the transition into Colorado’s newer school funding formula, which lawmakers have been phasing in after years of disputes over how to weigh student need, district size and local resources. The bill cleared both chambers in the final days, with the Senate concurring in House amendments and repassing it on May 13.

Lawmakers also approved Senate Bill 26-135, a more politically significant school funding measure because it sends voters a statewide question for the November 2026 general election. The bill asks whether Colorado may retain and spend certain revenue above the state’s constitutional spending cap to increase K-12 funding. The measure would allow a funding increase of up to 2% for 10 years, according to the General Assembly’s summary, and creates a “positive factor” designed to increase public school funding and accelerate the phase-in of the new school finance formula.

SB26-135 is tied directly to Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, known as TABOR, which generally requires voter approval for the state to retain revenue above specified limits. If voters approve the measure, districts could receive additional money for uses specified in the bill, including teacher pay, teacher retention, smaller class sizes and access to career and technical education. The bill also requires local education providers to post actual expenditures of the new funds online beginning in 2027, adding a transparency requirement to what is likely to become one of the year’s most closely watched education ballot issues.

Preschool funding also moved through the legislature, though in a more technical budget form. House Bill 26-1404 transfers $10 million from the tobacco education programs fund to the preschool programs cash fund on June 30, 2027. The bill reduces the General Fund appropriation to the Department of Early Childhood for universal preschool by the same amount and makes a corresponding appropriation from the preschool cash fund. The measure passed both chambers in April, according to the official bill history.

The preschool bill matters because Colorado’s universal preschool program has remained a major budget and implementation issue since its launch. The transfer does not rewrite the program, but it reflects the state’s continuing effort to manage early-childhood obligations inside a tight budget environment. For providers and families, the practical question will be whether budget maneuvers like this preserve classroom access and payment stability without reopening larger fights over eligibility, provider rates or program administration.

In higher education, House Bill 26-1345 cleared the legislature with changes to Colorado’s higher education funding allocation model. The bill implements recommendations from the state’s higher education funding formula review and changes “performance funding” to “results-informed funding.” It also redefines metrics used in the formula and reorganizes how different funding components are calculated, with changes taking effect for the 2027-28 state fiscal year.

Supporters described the bill as a way to better account for today’s college students, especially part-time students and transfer students. Legislative materials and Democratic caucus summaries say the proposal recognizes that many students no longer move through higher education in a traditional full-time, first-time pathway. The measure was sponsored by Democratic Reps. Julie McCluskie and Eliza Hamrick and Sens. James Coleman, a Democrat, and Cleave Simpson, a Republican, reflecting broader support than some of the session’s more ideological education bills. The House concurred in Senate amendments and repassed the bill on May 12.

Lawmakers also advanced Senate Bill 26-125, which creates a state-level path for enforcing disability-rights protections in public schools. The bill codifies parts of federal disability protections in state law, requires local education providers to adopt grievance procedures, and allows the Colorado Department of Education to investigate and resolve complaints if sufficient funding is available. If violations are found, the department may order remedies, and the State Board of Education may withhold state funds from a local education provider that intentionally violates the law and refuses corrective action.

The disability-rights bill comes amid concern that federal civil-rights complaint systems are backlogged or diminished. Parents and disability advocates have argued that families should not have to depend solely on the federal Office for Civil Rights to address Section 504 accommodation disputes. The measure passed the House on May 13 and the Senate concurred in House amendments the same day, according to the official bill history.

Another higher education measure, House Bill 26-1335, would require institutions of higher education that operate student health centers to provide access to medication abortion services. The bill requires institutions with an on-site pharmacy or prescription drug outlet to maintain a stock of abortion medication for enrolled students, while institutions without one must either send prescriptions to an off-campus pharmacy or dispense medication through the student health center if legally permitted. The bill includes exceptions, including where compliance would conflict with sincerely held religious beliefs or practices, federal requirements, grant participation or standards of medical practice.

The campus medication bill places Colorado in the broader national debate over reproductive health access after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, but its operational focus is specific: whether students who rely on campus health centers can access medication without navigating off-campus systems. The Senate passed the bill on May 13, sending it to the governor, according to bill-tracking records and legislative summaries.

Not every education proposal survived. One notable failure was a Democratic effort to place state conditions on Colorado’s participation in a federal tax-credit scholarship program backed by President Donald Trump. Chalkbeat reported April 30 that Colorado lawmakers postponed the bill, which would have required participating private schools or scholarship groups to comply with state nondiscrimination rules. That decision left Colorado without a new state-level restriction while governors and state officials across the country wait for federal Treasury Department rules on how the tax-credit program will operate.

The issue remained alive nationally even after the Colorado bill stalled. In a May 14 House Education and Workforce Committee hearing, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told lawmakers that states would be able to set rules around scholarship-granting organizations, though Chalkbeat reported that Treasury, not the Education Department, will ultimately write the rules. That uncertainty means Colorado may revisit the question later if federal guidance gives states room to impose conditions or if disputes emerge over which organizations can participate.

The final education ledger shows Colorado lawmakers largely chose funding continuity and administrative changes over sweeping structural disruption. K-12 schools received a school finance bill and a possible path to more revenue if voters agree. Preschool avoided a direct overhaul but remains tied to budget transfers. Higher education received formula changes aimed at nontraditional students. Disability-rights enforcement moved toward a stronger state role. But private-school scholarship oversight, long-term higher education affordability and the durability of preschool funding remain unsettled beyond the session’s closing gavel.