State Education Fund Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act & Colorado Teacher of the Year Program

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary confirms the repeal date of September 1, 2027, but does not provide a general effective date for the entire act.

Changes to Funding for Colorado Teacher Awards and Early Literacy Programs

This law stops automatic yearly money transfers from the State Education Fund to two specific programs, repeals those funds in September 2027, and requires lawmakers to approve new funding amounts each year.

What This Bill Does

• Stops annual automatic transfers of money from the state education fund for teacher awards and early literacy support.
• Ends the Colorado Teacher of the Year Fund on September 1, 2027.
• Ends the Early Literacy Fund on September 1, 2027.
• Allows lawmakers to choose how much money from the state education fund goes to the teacher award program each year.
• Requires lawmakers to set aside at least $34 million annually for early literacy purposes under the Colorado READ Act.

Who It Names or Affects

• The General Assembly, which must now approve funding amounts instead of relying on automatic transfers.
• Participants in the Colorado Teacher of the Year program who receive support from state funds.
• Students and schools involved in early literacy programs supported by the Colorado READ Act.

Terms To Know

Repeals

To officially cancel or end a law, fund, or program so it no longer exists.

Appropriate money

The action of lawmakers deciding to set aside and give specific amounts of public funds for a purpose.

Limits and Unknowns

• The official summary does not state the exact date this law becomes effective, only that fund repeals happen on September 1, 2027.
• The text does not explain how much money was previously transferred before this change took effect.

Official Summary Text

The act discontinues the annual transfers from the state education fund to the Colorado teacher of the year fund for the Colorado teacher of the year program and to the early literacy fund for specified purposes in support of the 'Colorado READ Act'. The Colorado teacher of the year fund and the early literacy fund are repealed, effective September 1, 2027.
The act permits the general assembly to appropriate money from the state education fund for the Colorado teacher of the year program and requires the general assembly to annually appropriate at least $34 million from the state education fund for the same specified purposes in support of the 'Colorado READ Act'.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)