Senate Committee on Education (04/02/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	04/02/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:35 PM to 03:32 PM	Groff	*
		Heath	X
Place:	SCR 354	Hudak	X
		King K.	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Scheffel	X
	Senator Bacon	Spence	*
		Romer	X
This Report was prepared by		Bacon	X
	Jennifer Thomsen
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Conf 09-Adams State College Conf 09-Western State College HB09-1063 HB09-1295 HB09-1065		Favorably Refer to the Full Senate Favorably Refer to the Full Senate Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Laid Over

01:36 PM -- Confirmation of Member of the Board of Trustees for Adams State College

Mary Griffin, appointee to the Board of Trustees for Adams State College, came to the table to introduce herself and explain why she would like to continue to serve on the board. The letter appointing Ms. Griffin is contained in Attachment A, her application and resume may be viewed at the State Archives.

Ms. Griffin responded to committee questions and comments.

01:39 PM

Dr. David Svaldi, president of Adams State College, came to the table to respond to a question from Senator King about how the college collaborates with community colleges.


BILL:	Conf 09-Adams State College
TIME:	01:41:38 PM
MOVED:	Romer
MOTION:	Refer the confirmation of Mary Griffin to the Board of Trustees for Adams State College to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a 7-0-1 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Excused
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:42 PM -- Confirmation of Appointee to the Western State College Board of Trustees

Meyer Saltzman, appointee to the Western State College Board of Trustees, came to the table to introduce himself and describe his interest in serving on the board. The letter appointing Mr. Saltzman is contained in Attachment B. His resume and application may be viewed at the State Archives.

Mr. Saltzman responded to committee questions and comments.


BILL:	Conf 09-Western State College
TIME:	01:46:47 PM
MOVED:	Heath
MOTION:	Refer the confirmation of Meyer Saltzman to the Western State College Board of Trustees to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a 5-0-3 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Excused
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Excused
	Romer	Excused
	Bacon	Yes

Final YES: 5 NO: 0 EXC: 3 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:47 PM -- House Bill 09-1063

Senator Penry, sponsor of House Bill 09-1063, presented the bill. The bill permits state higher education institutions to charge in-state tuition rates to Colorado high school graduates who move to Colorado during their senior year as a result of their parent relocating to the state for a job.

01:49 PM

Senator Penry responded to committee questions about the scope of the bill. Senator King asked if the reason the bill excludes these students from College Opportunity Fund (COF) moneys is due to the fiscal impact that would drive. Senator Penry confirmed that is the case and responded to follow-up questions from Senator King about the amount of tuition that would be paid by the students.

The committee discussed how students may establish residency. Senator Penry explained how he thought the bill would be used to attract businesses to the state.


BILL:	HB09-1063
TIME:	01:55:54 PM
MOVED:	King K.
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1063 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 7-0-1 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Excused
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:57 PM -- House Bill 09-1295

Senator Heath, sponsor of House Bill 09-1295, presented the bill. The bill permits Metropolitan State College of Denver to offer master's degree programs.

02:00 PM

The following people testified:

02:00 PM -- Dr. Stephen Jordan, president of Metropolitan State College of Denver (Metro), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Jordan talked about the student population at Metro and the importance of the ability to offer master's degree programs. He said being able to offer these programs allows colleges to meet the emerging needs of the community. Dr. Jordan said the programs will be modeled after a program in the California State University System, and he described the requirements for admittance to the programs. He talked about how the programs would be tailored to meet the needs of students with jobs and families. Dr. Jordan said a focus would be on teacher education, accountancy, and social work. He said the bill allows Metro to serve a population that has traditionally been underserved in higher education.

02:06 PM

Dr. Jordan responded to committee questions and comments. Dr. Jordan said Metro puts special emphasis on the engagement of students and creating team leaders for civic engagement. He talked about the difference between the focus at Metro compared to other institutions.

02:09 PM -- Adele Phelan, representing the Metropolitan State College of Denver Board of Trustees, testified in support of the bill. She said the bill has the endorsement of not only the trustees, but also the faculty, students, alumni association, and the Department of Higher Education.

Ms. Phelan responded to committee questions and comments.

02:11 PM -- Virginia Cruz, Chair of the Social Work Department at Metro, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Cruz talked about the state of social work and of social work degree programs in the state. She described the student population in the Social Work Department at Metro.

02:14 PM

Dr. Jordan returned to the table to speak to a question from Senator Bacon about the tuition differential.

02:15 PM -- Courtney Cowgill, representing the Colorado Board of Accountancy, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Cowgill talked about the importance of a master's degree and the importance of Metro offering a master's degree in accountancy. She talked about difficulties in transferring into a master's degree program.


BILL:	HB09-1295
TIME:	02:18:48 PM
MOVED:	Heath
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1295 to the Committee of the Whole with a recommendation that it be placed on the consent calendar. The motion passed on a 7-0-1 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Excused
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:19 PM -- House Bill 09-1065

Senator Spence, sponsor of House Bill 09-1065, distributed amendment L.016 (Attachment C). The bill, which creates an educator identifier pilot program, was before the committee for action only. The bill was heard, and testimony taken, on March 12, 2009.

02:23 PM

Senator Spence walked the committee through the amendment, saying it would change the bill from an educator identifier pilot program to an educator identifier system. She described what the data obtained from the identifier system may not be used for, saying it may not be used to negatively sanction individual teachers, school districts, or teacher preparation programs. Senator Spence explained that the data may be used for teacher preparation program improvement. She noted that the amendment requires that the system comply with state and federal privacy laws.

02:27 PM

Senator Spence continued her description of the amendment, reading the language on the bottom of page two of the amendment and the top of page three.

Senator Spence responded to committee questions about the amendment. Senator Hudak asked about the language in the amendment, which differs from an amendment that was discussed in negotiations around the bill (amendment L.014, which was not offered, so was not distributed). President Groff explained where the language from the amendment came from, and said it was related to guidance from the U.S. Department of Education. Conversation between Senator Hudak and President Groff ensued. Senator Spence talked about the negotiations and conversations behind the amendment.

02:34 PM

Senator Romer asked for further clarification about the U.S. Department of Education guidance. President Groff responded to Senator Romer's questions. Committee discussion about the amendment and previous discussions around the bill ensued.

02:38 PM

Senator Hudak expressed concern about going forward with amendment L.016 without the input of the stakeholders.

Rich Wenning, Colorado Department of Education (CDE), came to the table to respond to committee questions about the amendment. He said CDE supports aligning the bill as closely as possible with U.S. Department of Education guidance related to the recovery act and commented on the state's position relative to the Race to the Top. He talked about the specific metrics that states must report on and the clear expectations that have been delivered on the systems to measure teacher effectiveness. He read from the U.S. Department of Education guidance.

02:42 PM

Mr. Wenning responded to committee questions about the amendments and how they align with the guidance.

02:45 PM

Dan Daly, representing the Colorado Education Association, came to the table to react to the amendment. He said he had not seen the amendment, so was unable to react to it specifically. Mr. Daly expressed support for the negotiated amendment L.014. Mr. Daly responded to a question from Senator King about the definition of "qualified and effective." Discussion between Senator King and Mr. Daly on this issue ensued.

02:51 PM

Committee discussion continued around whether there was guidance from the federal government defining an "effective teacher." President Groff said the amendment contains language disallowing use of the data to negatively sanction teachers, as did amendment L.014. Mr. Daly responded, saying the state does not negatively sanction teachers, districts do. He also spoke to the language providing that data may not be used "in an arbitrary and capricious manner." Senator Spence explained that the language in amendment L.016 came from Brad Jupp, and is supported by Denver Public Schools. She read from an April 1, 2009, letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan regarding data gathering by states.

02:58 PM

Committee discussion about the amendment continued, with Senator Hudak saying that "educators," not "teachers," should be used in the amendment. She also spoke to the language on page three of the amendment, which she said requires development of performance levels for teachers.

03:02 PM

Mr. Wenning returned to the table to speak to Senator Hudak's questions. He talked about the expectations of Secretary of Education Duncan. Conversation between Mr. Wenning and Senator Hudak ensued about the performance levels referred to in the amendment. Mr. Daly reacted to the conversation, saying it is not yet clear what "teacher effectiveness" means, but more guidance is likely to come. He said districts decide how to use data to connect teachers to students, and he talked about concerns around the state data system. Mr. Wenning responded and discussion continued.

03:08 PM

Committee discussion continued. Senator Romer expressed concern about the process by which the amendment came to the committee. The committee discussed the amendment's provisions on page two, lines 14 through 20, that address how the data may not be used. Mr. Daly and Mr. Wenning weighed in as well.

03:17 PM

Committee discussion of the amendment continued. Senator Bacon described a number of scenarios that might move the bill forward. Committee conversation around the scenarios ensued. Senator Spence clarified that she would not offer amendment L.014, she would only offer amendment L.016. She told the committee which stakeholder groups have agreed to amendment L.016.


BILL:	HB09-1065
TIME:	03:24:49 PM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	Moved an amendment to amendment L.016 to change "teacher" to "educator" as appropriate. The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff
	Heath
	Hudak
	King K.
	Scheffel
	Spence
	Romer
	Bacon
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

BILL:

HB09-1065

TIME:

03:29:44 PM

MOVED:

Spence

MOTION:

Moved amendment L.016 (Attachment C), as amended. The motion failed on a 4-4 vote.

SECONDED:

VOTE

Groff

Yes

Heath

Hudak

King K.

Yes

Scheffel

Yes

Spence

Yes

Romer

Bacon

Not Final YES: 4 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

03:32 PM

Senator Bacon said the bill would be laid over, unamended, until the committee's next scheduled meeting, Wednesday, April 15.

The committee adjourned.