Photo: Attendees at a rally the Colorado Education Association organized in support of fully funding public schools chant “fund our schools” at Colorado legislators watching the rally from the Colorado Capitol balcony on March 20, 2025, at the Capitol in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
This story by Lindsey Toomer appeared on Colorado Newsline on March 20, 2025.
Attendees at a rally the Colorado Education Association organized in support of fully funding public schools chant “fund our schools” at Colorado legislators watching the rally from the Colorado Capitol balcony on March 20, 2025, at the Capitol in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
Thousands of teachers, school employees, parents and students filled the west steps of the Colorado Capitol Thursday urging Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and state lawmakers to preserve funding for public schools.
The Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, organized a day of action that brought educators from around the state to Denver. Many public schools, including some in Denver, Aurora, Boulder, Adams 12, and Summit County, closed Thursday because so many staff members called out to attend the rally.
Attendees dressed in red as part of the “Red for Ed” pro-teacher pay movement, holding signs that read “no more cuts,” “Our kids deserve more,” and “WTF: Where’s the funding?” Chants at the rally included “Whose Schools? Our Schools!” and “Schools need funding, schools need books, schools need money that TABOR took!”
TABOR, or the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, is a state constitutional amendment that limits how much money the state can collect and spend.
Democratic legislators, who control a majority in both chambers of the Legislature, walked onto the Capitol’s balcony to wave at protesters and support the rally. Attendees turned to chant “fund our schools” at the lawmakers.
CEA had 2,000 people register to attend the rally, though spokesperson Bethany Morris estimated closer to 3,000 people showed up.
Isabel Rodriguez, a high school teacher in Summit County who has run her own nonprofit and served on the local school board, said she became a teacher because she grew up in Denver being taught by teachers who didn’t look or sound like her. She said she works to “break the cycle of poverty” and build wealth to set her kids up for success, but “the state of Colorado makes one thing clear: education is not going to be the path there.”
“What I hear is that my career is not as valuable, not as worthy of the respect and support that it needs,” Rodriguez said at the rally. “As a first-generation Latina with a higher education, I know that I will continue to be an outlier. Because what your decisions communicate is that if you have the opportunity to get a higher education, your best bet is to not go into education.”
Governor’s contested plan
The demonstration comes as lawmakers try to plug a $1.2 billion hole in the state’s budget, which is set for introduction and debate in the coming weeks. There are several reasons for that budget gap, including a state revenue cap set by TABOR, ballooning Medicaid costs and slowing economic growth.
Longtime education financial woes seemed to be on their way out last year, when the Legislature approved a new school funding formula that could allocate $500 million more over six years and passed a budget that fully funded public education according to constitutional requirements for the first time in over a decade.
Delaney Jarmon, an Aurora Public Schools special education teacher, holds a “budget cuts never heal” sign while chanting at a rally the Colorado Education Association organized in support of fully funding public schools on March 20, 2025, at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
But now districts could get less money than promised — though still an increase over last year — in order to balance the budget. Polis, a Democrat, has floated a cost-saving measure that would change how the state calculates enrollment for per-pupil funding. Instead of using a four-year average, his plan would rely on a single year’s enrollment numbers, meaning that districts with declining enrollment would get less money.
His office says the plan would support students where they actually are, and that four-year averaging only delays eventual budget consequences of declining enrollment. A statement his office released ahead of the rally said “representations that the Governor is proposing a cut are just inaccurate.”
A switch to a single-year count would mean about $150 million less than expected for schools. Polis’ plan would still mean an overall increase in funding of about $388 per student.
A counter proposal, backed by House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, would leave the four-year enrollment calculation in place but reduce how much of the new funding formula would go into effect this year — 10% versus the promised 18%. That would slow funding increases.
CEA President Kevin Vick said the demonstration’s turnout shows the education community is united in demanding that the state does not further cut education funding.
“Colorado’s students deserve fully funded schools, not budget cuts that undercut their future,” Vick said in a statement. “It’s time for our state to prioritize public education and invest in the resources our students need to succeed.”
A voice for students
Delaney Jarmon, a special education teacher at Aurora Public Schools in her third year teaching, came to the rally with a handmade sign that read “Budget cuts never heal.” She said her school is already low on funding and support, and further cuts would only harm students.
“I came out here because not only do we need funding for our school, we need individualized attention for our students,” Jarmon said. “And if we don’t have enough teachers to have that individualized attention, it’s harder for our kids to learn.”
Jarmon said if the state cut funding from schools once before, “who’s to say it won’t happen again.” At her school, she has 15 children with autism in one classroom, which she said “is really hard.” She wanted to be a voice for her students who couldn’t use their own voices.
Willow Mason, a school psychologist at a Denver high school who has worked in Colorado schools for seven years, said she’s seen “a sense of frustration” build up, especially this year.
Given the uncertainty of support for education from the federal government, “more than ever we need our state government to be helping us out with education,” Mason said. She brought her two kids to the rally. They are both enrolled in public schools, and she said they appreciate programs like arts and sports, “all those things that take money.”
Colorado Newsline reporter Sara Wilson contributed to this report.