Summary#

HB 26-1428, Administration of Publicly Funded Education Programs, is signed into law. It adds a temporary reporting requirement to Colorado’s public education statutes and amends the existing law for the Statewide Supplemental Online and Blended Learning Program. Its stated goal is to improve administration of publicly funded programs for students who are not full-time, in-person students.

• The Colorado Department of Education must report by November 1, 2026, on online schools and programs, supplemental online courses, and part-time enrichment programs.
• The report must cover program models, enrollment, delivery and financial arrangements, academic performance, costs compared with state payments, and options for oversight and funding changes.
• Local education providers must give the department accurate survey responses, contracts, and other financial documents it requests. They may also submit additional information about program quality, costs, and enrollment.
• At the department’s request, local education providers must give student ID numbers and other student-level data for participants in the statewide supplemental online and blended learning program to the department and the BOCES administering it.
• The department may extend the current administering BOCES’s authorization for up to two more years before starting a new five-year designation. The extension is optional, not automatic.

What it means for you#

• Local education providers: You must supply the specified information and documents if the department requests them. You may submit additional materials, but the bill does not require you to submit those optional materials.
• Students and families in the statewide supplemental program: If the department requests it, your education provider must share your student ID and other student-level data with the department and the administering BOCES. The bill does not directly change student eligibility or access to these programs.
• The administering BOCES: The department may let the BOCES continue administering the statewide program for up to two additional years before a new five-year designation.
• Other taxpayers and the public: The bill requires a report, not immediate changes to program funding, oversight rules, or services. The report may recommend such changes.

Money#

No cost estimate is provided in the available material.

• The department must prepare the report and may collect additional data; local education providers must respond to requests. The bill gives no staffing or cost estimate for these duties.
• The report must compare state payments with actual program costs and may recommend funding changes. The bill itself does not change payment amounts or appropriate money.

What is unclear#

• The bill does not set rules for how student-level data must be stored, protected, or shared.
• It does not specify how the department will measure academic quality or compare program costs and outcomes.
• It does not require the department or lawmakers to adopt any recommendations in the report.
• Some terms rely on definitions in other statutes. The full parent statutes were not supplied, so their existing rules and how the changes fit with them could not be independently verified.

Case for#

• The report could give lawmakers and education officials a clearer picture of how online and part-time programs operate, who they serve, and what they cost.
• Comparing state payments with actual costs could help identify whether funding matches program expenses.
• Allowing providers to submit additional information could give the report context about student progress, support, and program offerings.
• The optional BOCES extension could provide continuity while a new five-year designation is prepared.

Case against#

• The department can collect additional data it considers necessary, and providers must supply requested information. The bill does not set clear limits on those requests or explain how much work they may create.
• Student-level data sharing raises privacy and security questions that the bill does not address.
• The bill calls for analysis and recommendations but does not itself set new quality standards, change funding, or require action on the findings.