Legislative Update

L. Antoinette Salazar, Esq.
Melissa H. Gibson
Legislative Update
January 20, 2008

The first full week of session brought a flurry of new bills; there are already about fifty education-related pieces of legislation with more to come. Additionally, the General Assembly dealt with the unexpected incident between new Representative Doug Bruce and a Rocky Mountain News photographer that has received a great deal of press coverage. Speaker Romanoff appointed a bi-partisan committee to investigate the incident and they voted on Friday to formally censure Representative Bruce. Legislators are eager to move forward and get to the business of considering bills and policy for the 2008 General Session; most everyone hopes that Friday’s committee decision brings some closure to this incident and that there are no similar occurrences in the coming months.

Higher Education Briefing
Last Friday (1/18), there was a briefing on the state of higher education funding in Colorado for some members of the Legislature. At the briefing, Commissioner David Skaggs and Dr. Tucker Hart Adams presented highlights from a study that included mention of the significant benefits to states that invest in higher education (lower incarceration rate, higher-paying jobs, and so on); the study goes on to indicate that Colorado ranks 48th nationwide in its level of higher education funding despite being the 8th most wealthy state.

Todd Saliman, Director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, spoke to the challenges in adequately funding higher education, and restated the Governor’s commitment to making this issue an ongoing priority. Mr. Saliman explained that every year, department and program increases required by law account for about 85% of the budget, which leaves only about 15% of flexible funds. Considering this, the 2008-09 requested $59.5M increase for higher education doesn’t meet the needs, but is a meaningful amount given statutory and constitutional limitations.

The majority of the briefing consisted of short presentations by a representative from every higher education institution. Les Lindauer (Emily Griffith Opportunity School) spoke on behalf of the Area Vocational Schools and articulated the strong programs they offer students for relatively little cost.

There were no clear next steps identified as a result of the briefing, but legislators expressed appreciation for the information and stated that it will be helpful in the future as the General Assembly continues to try to address the issue of inadequate funding for higher education.

Financial Literacy
Representative Marshall and Senator Romer’s HB 08-1168 directs the Standards and Assessment Development and Implementation (SADI) Council to recommend, and the State Board to subsequently adopt, revised state model content standards in math that include financial literacy. It would further require all state assessments to be revised to reflect this change.

Given Governor Ritter’s upcoming education legislation (termed the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids) that will re-appoint the SADI Council to create new “P-13” standards (preschool through postsecondary), there are questions about how HB 08-1168 would fit in. Additionally, there is some concern about whether it’s appropriate to include financial literacy as part of the state model content standards in math.
HB 08-1168 has not been calendared yet and is one of several bills pertaining to standards and assessments that aren’t connected to the Governor’s proposal. We will keep you posted as this issue moves forward.

High School Reform
Standards and assessments are hot topics this session, and several bills focus on these issues at the high school level in particular. As we mentioned in last week’s legislative narrative, Senator Penry and Representative Witwer are sponsors of Governor Ritter’s “Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids” legislation but had been planning since the end of last session to introduce this year a bill pertaining to mandatory high school graduation requirements. SB 08-023 outlines these graduation standards and was already too far along in the drafting process to withdraw at the time the Governor unveiled his plan. Among other things, SB 08-023 would require 4 years in math and English, 3 years in science and social studies, 2 years in foreign language, 1 year in PE or health, and 1 year of visual, performing, or applied arts. However, as we’ve previously indicated, we expect that Senator Penry and Representative Witwer will move to kill their bill in light of their sponsorship of the Governor’s legislation.

Unrelated to the Governor’s proposal and a high priority GOP Senate bill is Senator Mike Kopp’s SB 08-061. This legislation would require CDE to administer exit exams in 11th grade for students who failed to score partially proficient on the 10th grade CSAP in the areas of reading, math, and writing. The exit exams would be in each of these subject matters, and earning a satisfactory score would be a prerequisite for high school graduation. Students would take an exam only in the area in which they scored less than partially proficient on the CSAP, and would continue to take the test until they got a satisfactory score or turned 21 years old, whichever came first.

SB 08-061 and other similar bills are part of the larger debate that is unfolding around education reform. This debate includes consideration of seat time versus multiple pathways to demonstrate proficiency, the purpose and value of assessments, and the need to overhaul our state standards. Expect the Legislature, Governor, P-20 Council, and other stakeholders to continue to grapple with these issues in the coming months.

Credentialing of CTE Teachers
Senator Nancy Spence has introduced SB 08-017, which was developed based on the work and recommendations of the Legislative Audit Committee. The bill clarifies the authority for credentialing of CTE teachers at both the secondary and community college level. Beginning July 1, 2009, the Colorado Department of Education will be responsible for credentialing K-12 CTE teachers, and the community college system will be responsible for credentialing its CTE instructors.

SB 08-017 passed out of the Senate Education Committee late last week, and we will keep you posted on this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.