Editor’s Note: State Bill premium users may listen to the entire Senate Education Committee hearing at which the School Finance Act was debated by pressing on the audio player published here:

The state House this week approved HB 1369, the school finance act, but it was a vote that brought some legislators to tears, The Fort Morgan Times reports. HB 1369 cuts $365 million in state funding for school districts statewide. According to the bill’s fiscal note, which explains the impact, the cut will result in a 6 percent drop in state funding for every school district in the state for 2010-11, and according to legislators, many districts will see even larger reductions.