Education.
When Rep. Epps took office, Colorado was one of the worst performing states for school funding at both the K-12 and Higher Education level. While TABOR still impedes our ability to ensure every student has abundant opportunity and every teacher has the resources to succeed. Rep. Epps is proud of the General Assembly’s work in 2024 to give Colorado School districts the necessary resources to help reduce class sizes, increase teacher pay, and provide more resources to help students thrive.
Rep. Epps supports teachers and their unions, supports efforts to curtail the influence of corporate backers in public schools, and will not accept any financial support from “education reform"/charter school groups. A champion of public education, and parent of a Denver Public Schools graduate, Rep. Epps has been endorsed by Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA), Colorado Education Association (CEA), and American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Selected legislation Rep. Epps supported to fund public education:
SB24-188 Public School Finance. In conjunction with FY24-25 Budget HB24-1430, SB24-188 provides historic funding for K-12 public schools by eliminating the Budget Stabilization Factor, which will increase total funding for schools by over $560 million and average per pupil funding by $780.
HB24-1448 New Public School Finance Formula
Additional legislation Rep. Epps sponsored related to early childhood, elementary, secondary, and higher education include:
SB23-293 Use Of Student Athlete's Name Image Or Likeness (Prime)
HB24-1063 Addressing Abbreviated School Days
Pictured: Rep. Epps with her son at his Denver Public Schools high school graduation; with Denver School Board Director Scott Esserman.