As rural school districts continue to struggle with educator shortages, a new bipartisan bill wants to end a program that helps Colorado students access pathways to teaching — something high school seniors say would leave them in an unfair spot.

The Teacher Recruitment Education and Preparation program was created through Senate Bill 21-185 in 2021 as a way to encourage high school students to pursue careers in education. The program currently offers up to $10,000 in tuition assistance to program participants who remain enrolled in a fifth and sixth year of high school to take postsecondary courses related to a teacher career pathway.

House Bill 1357, introduced in early April, would phase out the program over a two-year period to put money back in the State Education Fund.

“This is a program that we can appreciate has been enjoyed by a small, but appreciative number of students,” Rep. Emily Sirota, vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said during an April 7 hearing of the bill. “It is a program that, I think, in other years, is maybe nice to have. However, I would also say that … it only serves a very small number of students. It’s not what I would say is particularly equitable when we think about the dollars that we have for our per-pupil funding in Colorado.”

The Department of Education reported that 4.5% of the students in the program have earned a teaching credential, Sirota said. While a number of them are still enrolled, it would take several years to find out whether any became teachers in a Colorado district.

Funding for the program is taken from the State Education Fund, which acts as a specialized revenue stream for K-12 education supplementing general fund spending. Less than a week before Monday’s state budget proposal, the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee proposed slashing funding to the teacher preparation program as lawmakers were getting ready to close a $1.2 billion budget shortfall in the 2026-27 general fund.

“We are challenged in this budget year to fully implement our new school funding formula. We’re not able to dedicate any new general fund dollars to funding that formula, so the rest of those increases that we would see this year in K-12 funding will have to come out of the State Education Fund,” Sirota said. “While I can appreciate that this has been an important benefit to a small number of students … it is a program that I don’t think in the context of our budget we are actually able to afford.”

For some students and their families, however, it’s the timing of the program’s transition that is stirring the most concern.

House Bill 1357 would phase out the Teacher Recruitment Education and Preparation program by 2027-28, meaning no new students would be accepted for the 2026-27 school year. Only existing students entering their second year of the program would be allowed to finish out their studies. Per-pupil financial assistance for students completing the program would also go down from $10,721 to $7,104 under the bill.

Believing in the promises of the program, several high school seniors set to graduate this spring have turned down other post-secondary opportunities in favor of beginning their educator training in the fall, according to student testimonies. Now, if passed, House Bill 26-1357 could lead these post-secondary plans to fall apart.

“The timing of the decision by the Joint Budget Committee is devastating,” Joana Balderman, the parent of a high school senior, testified during the hearing. “Students like (my daughter) have no ability to pivot. It feels as if the state is turning their back on their promise to these students.”

Several students, teachers and parents testified during the hearing to ask for an amendment that would allow current high school seniors to enter the program during the 2026-27 school year, thus delaying the elimination of the program by one year. This change, many argued, would avoid disrupting any post-secondary plans students had already committed to.

Stephanie Christian, the parent of a graduating senior, argued that the teacher preparation program should receive similar treatment to the Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment program, which was repealed by a 2025 bill and is being phased out through 2026. Students who were seniors at the time of the bill passing were allowed to keep their spot in the program and receive their scholarship.

“The state recognized that those students had made academic and financial decisions based upon a promise, and it chose not to disrupt the path at the last moment. This is not what is happening today,” Christian said. “Students who are weeks away from graduation are not being given the same consideration as last year. They followed the rules, they met the expectations, they made binding college decisions based upon a state-created pathway. Now with almost no notice, that pathway is being removed.”

Many students hoping to join the program in the fall also passed up opportunities to apply for traditional post-secondary scholarships earlier in the year, due to the program requiring that they remain in high school. Now, those students would be left with limited time to figure out alternative arrangements for their education.

“Students like me worked very closely with counselors. We shaped our classes and applied and have been accepted to colleges and even deferred other pathways, all based on the promise that this program made to us. The deadlines to make changes to that path have already passed,” Abby Christian, Stephanie’s daughter, said to the House Appropriations Committee. “I’m graduating next month, and the end of this program means I have no path forward. So where do I go now?”

Since 2021, the program has capped participation at 250 students, though only 193 students are participating in the program during the current 2025-26 school year. Roughly 137 of those students are in their first year of the program and will complete it in the 2026-27 academic year.

According to the fiscal note, the bill would reduce costs for the State Education Fund by $1.6 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year, reflecting a decrease from 250 to 137 students and the reduction in the per-pupil rate. The bill would reduce nearly $3 million in program costs during the 2027-28 fiscal year, when the program is fully eliminated.

The House Appropriations Committee passed the bill by a 9-2 vote. Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a Glenwood Springs Democrat, was among the committee members who voted in favor of phasing out the program.

“We had a terrible job trying to close a billion dollar budget gap, and so while folks feel as though they were promised or counting on particular benefits from the state, this is what we are dealing with,” Sirota said. “Our budget is limited by TABOR, and we have to present a balanced budget.”

The bill heads to its second reading on April 9.