SB17-200 Summary

• Creates the "Rewarding Excellence With Annual Redirected Dollars Act" (REWARD Act) to award excellence funding to school districts that outperform peer districts based on student performance metrics.

• Establishes a competitive funding distribution by categorizing school districts as rural or non-rural, grouping districts by demographic similarities, and selecting the 6 highest-performing districts in each category (12 total annually) based on state assessment data.

• Funds the program by redirecting 1% of statewide total program funding after application of the negative factor, with the Department of Education reducing state funding shares proportionately across all districts.

• Distributes excellence funding as 15% in equal shares to the 12 winning districts and 85% on a per-pupil basis; requires charter schools to receive 100% of their per-pupil allocation from excellence funding received by the district or state charter school institute.

• Program begins in the 2018-19 budget year, with eligibility requiring districts to hold valid accreditation ratings and maintain at least 95% student participation rates on state assessments.