On June 10, 2007, the President of Western State hosted educators and community leaders in a Sunday afternoon discusion about education. This meeting was one of a number that Speaker Romanoff is holding to promote a dialogue on education issues.

The purpose of the meetings is to have conversations with citizens in Colorado about what we want out of public education. We can produce the finest public education, but what is the specific goal. Romanoff said that what we really want is to help every child to fulfill their potential as a human being. Are we there yet? Most people say no. How do we get there? A lot will depend on the new council set up by Governor Ritter, which consists of thirty participants plus 3 co-chairs. Their goal to create a seamless educational process without pitting K through 12 against college funding. So the new council is focused on P through 20. In talking to young people 20% of 100 kids say they will get a AA or BA.

The mill levy stabilization bill was passed giving more local autonomy. The idea came forward in 2004 and passed the Senate. It did not get out of the house. This year the Governor proposed that the legislation be reintroduced. It passed and was signed into law. 175 local jurisdictions already have passed local legislation freezing the mill levy.

Speaker Romanoff talked about other legislation that was passed to provide funding for education. The following is just some of those bills.

House Bill 1048, sponsored by State Representative Mike Merrifield (D-Colorado Springs), helps parents and teachers get a better understanding of kids’ progress by focusing on the individual child’s development throughout the school year using longitudinal assessment.

House Bill 1345, sponsored by Rep. Merrifield, make it easier for parents to understand and access how their kids’ schools perform by streamlining three School Accountability Reports into one easy-to-read report and making it available online.

Senate Bill 148, sponsored by State Representative Edward Casso (D-Thornton), establishes a pilot program that helps kids stay in school and on a track toward college by allowing students to get a high school diploma and an associate degree within five years.

Senate Bill 239 “Long Bill”, sponsored by State Representative Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction), keeps college affordable by boosting financial aid by $7.4 million and increases the Colorado Opportunity Fund for 122,000 students.

Senate Bill 97, sponsored by House Majority Leader Alice Madden (D-Boulder), ensures that Colorado’s only medical school remains competitive to foster future doctors by funding the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.

House Bill 1014, sponsored by State Representative Kathleen Curry (D-Gunnison), makes higher education more accessible to the Western Slope by reinstating graduate programs at Western State College.

House Bill 1145, sponsored by Rep. Merrifield, helps fund K-12 education through alternative energy development by authorizing the state land board to lease land for renewable energy development. Currently, 90 percent of the revenues from state lands help fund K-12 education.

Jay Helman, president of Western State, talked about the recent higher education summit. The theme was why education matters. He noted that there are problems with equal opportunity in the K-12 system. That challenge doesn’t change going into colleges and universities. People are coming to college who are not prepared. On Sept. 8, 2007, at the fall meeting of Club 20, education will be addrewswed. They hope to lay out a strategy and vision for what we want.

About 20 people participated in this discussion, and it was an important opportunity for exchanging information between lawmakers and local activists.

Pat Waak

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 4:18 pm and is filed under 2007 Legislative Session. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.