Colorado high schools keep controversial free tuition programs.

Two embattled Colorado high schools are sending students to community college on the state's dime, even as the state commissioner of education says the free tuition programs are "not eligible for state funding."

"We're closing the achievement gap for the children of poverty," said Michael Poore, superintendent of tiny Sheridan School District, which serves predominantly poor and minority students. "And we're actually creating the bridges to make K-16 or K-20 happen."

Free tuition "makes college a realistic hope for everybody; it has changed our school," said Scott Mendelsberg, principal of Denver's Lincoln High School. He pointed to fewer fights and expulsions, higher attendance and graduation rates and a 73 percent rate of postsecondary matriculation. "When everybody thinks they're going to college, they start acting like college-bound students," Mendelsberg said.

In round numbers, the high schools get $6,600 per student per year from the state. They will pay $2,300 in tuition and fees to cooperating community colleges, which already get $2,100 directly from the state. The high schools also provide counselors for their students at college.

Sheridan's program, in operation since 1998, lets students sign up for a "21st Century Diploma," which requires up to two years of college for high school graduation. Lincoln's similar "College Now" program, new this year, names the six-year diploma "Apex."

Dianne Cyr is director of Early/Middle College and High School Partnerships at the Community College of Denver. "For 'College Now,' we go into the high school and administer the ACCUPLACER test in the tenth grade, which tells us where students have gaps, so that we can fill in the gaps," she said. "Their educational plan allows students to pursue a rigorous, differentiated diploma and extend their studies into higher education." Cyr said the program gives students hope and confidence that they belong in higher education.

State Commissioner of Education William Moloney opposes the free tuition programs, but said, "They are very praiseworthy programs. I can't imagine a high school in the state not wanting to do them." He is convinced, however, that the cost would be prohibitive for every high school to offer free community college tuition. It's an argument that Mendelsberg disputes, saying a statewide free tuition program would benefit poor students primarily.

"I don't believe that the kids who have money are going to go to community college just because it's free," he said. "They'll still go to Ivies and four-year schools."

According to Moloney, "In 2001, the Legislature told the board of education to stop all such programs; they had found that they were an inappropriate use of state money." But supporters of the free tuition program are challenging the accuracy of that interpretation. Rico Munn, an attorney and member of the Colorado State Board of Education, represents a district that includes Lincoln High School. He was elected to the board in a landslide victory, having promised to "make every school a high performing school."

"I disagree with Dr. Moloney regarding what the Legislature instructed the departments of Education and of Higher Education to do," Munn said.

He pointed out that current state higher education funding laws are very different from the ones in place in 2001, and that higher education authorities put a stop to the double-dipping discovered in some programs at the time. "But the board passed a rule that, instead of just addressing the funding issue, was much broader, and today the Department of Education is reading that rule to say that these programs can't exist," Munn said.

In September, Munn asked the board to change the old rule and approve the free tuition programs, but the idea stalled on a 4-4 partyline vote. Since then he has lined up support for what he calls "a legislative fix." The Legislature will meet in January.

Poore and Mendelsberg claim support from conservatives and liberals alike, but concede that Colorado's budget woes may force compromise.

Other states are reportedly exploring free tuition plans. An Oklahoma pilot program requires tuition waivers for part-time, dual-enrolled high school seniors. Iowa may let high school seniors who have completed graduation requirements start college early, courtesy of the state. Utah is considering concurrent diploma-baccalaureate options.

Colorado's 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights ratchets state spending down to a lower baseline every time the economy falters. The state now ranks 50th in the nation for state tax collections per $1,000 of personal income.

On Nov. 1, Colorado voters will decide whether the state may hold on to $3.7 billion in promised tax refunds. Educators and politicians of both parties have united behind the proposal, which would permit some restoration of devastated programs and infrastructure.

Due to property tax ceilings, the average Colorado school district depends on the state for 62 percent of its funding. A 2002 referendum mandated a 1 percent real annual growth in state K-12 funding, but higher education funding is not protected. It has been cut 40 percent since 2002, according to Tim Albers, president of the Colorado Council for High School College Relations. The Colorado Community College System now expects to cover less than 10 percent of its budget with state funds.