Gov. Jared Polis turned a routine bill signing into a full-on education victory lap Thursday, splashing Facebook with photos of himself inking a pair of measures he says will pump more money into Colorado classrooms and tighten the pipeline from high school to higher ed and job training. The images show Polis surrounded by lawmakers, school leaders, and advocates as he signs the bills, with the post casting the moment as another step in a multi-year push to fully fund K–12 schools and raise teacher pay.
In the post, Polis highlighted SB26-023, this year’s School Finance Act, and HB26-1317, which reshapes oversight of postsecondary and workforce programs. He described both as big wins for students and educators. According to Governor Jared Polis's Facebook post, he pointed to more than a 50% jump in per-pupil funding since 2019 and an increase of over $13,000 in average teacher pay during his time in office.
What the bills do
SB26-023 updates the School Finance Act for the 2026–27 budget year, raising the statewide base per-pupil funding level and locking in total program funding targets for that year. As laid out by the Colorado General Assembly, the measure boosts the base per-pupil amount for 2026–27 and sets overall program funding at about $10.18 billion. HB26-1317, meanwhile, sets up a transition advisory committee that must draft a plan to fold oversight of higher-education and workforce-development programs into a single department and deliver those recommendations to lawmakers later this year, according to the Colorado General Assembly.
Polis's claims and context
Polis is pitching these signings as the payoff from years of trying to “fully fund” Colorado schools, repeatedly pointing to long-term gains in what the state spends per student and what teachers are earning. The Colorado Sun reported his State of the State claim that funding per student has climbed from just over $8,000 in 2019 to nearly $12,000 today, and that average teacher salaries have risen by more than $13,000. Legislative Council data from 2019 puts statewide average per-pupil funding at roughly $8,123 in FY2019–20, which serves as the baseline behind that comparison.
How the finance law will work
The new school-finance law does more than just raise the topline numbers. It introduces a three-year averaging model for funded pupil counts and applies the state’s new school-finance formula at 30 percent, changes lawmakers say should cushion districts against sharp swings when enrollment shifts. As reported by Colorado Senate Democrats, those tweaks are projected to push total K–12 funding above $10.2 billion and drive the statewide per-pupil figure to around $12,316 for FY2026–27.
Next steps and timeline
HB26-1317 puts the transition advisory committee on a specific clock. The group must start meeting by July 1 and submit its transition plan by Nov. 1, with the reworked department structure scheduled to take effect July 1, 2028, according to the Colorado General Assembly. Both bills will now feed into the Joint Budget Committee’s summer work on school spending and fiscal notes.
The Facebook photos double as a bit of political messaging, packaging the bill signings as a visual highlight reel of the administration’s education agenda. The post features images and captions walking through the events. For a look at the shots, see Governor Jared Polis's Facebook post; full bill texts and fiscal notes are available on the Colorado General Assembly website.
