Senate Committee on Education (03/12/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	03/12/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:36 PM to 07:38 PM	Groff	X
		Heath	X
Place:	SCR 354	Hudak	X
		King K.	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Scheffel	X
	Senator Bacon	Spence	X
		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-Western State College SB09-176 HB09-1057 HB09-1065		Favorably Refer to the Full Senate Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only

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

Stephanie Foote, appointee to the Western State College Board of Trustees, introduced herself and explained why she wants to continue serving on the board. The letter appointing Ms. Foote is contained in Attachment A. Her application and resume may be viewed at the State Archives.

01:38 PM

Ms. Foote responded to committee questions and comments.


BILL:	Conf 09-Western State College
TIME:	01:43:56 PM
MOVED:	Romer
MOTION:	Refer the confirmation of Stephanie Foote to the Western State College Board of Trustees to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. 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

01:44 PM -- Senate Bill 09-176

Senator Spence, sponsor of Senate Bill 09-176, brought the bill back for action only. The bill was originally heard and testimony was taken in committee on February 26, 2009.

Senator Spence reminded the committee and the audience that the bill will include charter schools in the bonding process that other schools go through with their voters. She talked about the number of charter schools in the state and the number of students they serve. Senator Spence explained amendment L.002 (Attachment B), saying it allows charter schools to be represented on long-range planning committees and requires local boards of education to put charter school needs on the school district's priority list. The amendment, she continued, also addresses charter school debt and does not require school districts to prioritize the capital construction plan of a charter school that is on probation.

01:50 PM

The committee discussed the provisions of the amendment around charter schools that are on probation.

01:57 PM

Senator Spence continued her description of the amendment, explaining that it allows a school district to commit funds to charter school capital construction outside of the bonding process. She also explained that the amendment provides that if a charter school loses its charter and can longer operate, the ownership of capital construction financed by bond proceeds reverts to the school district.

01:59 PM

Senator Spence responded to committee questions about the amendment. Senator Spence and Senator King had a conversation about the provisions around prioritization of capital construction plans by the school district.

02:05 PM

Senator Romer commented on federal stimulus dollars for school capital construction, and spoke to the reason for "may" versus "shall" language in the amendment.


BILL:	SB09-176
TIME:	02:09:07 PM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment B). 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

02:09 PM

Senator Spence responded to a committee question about who holds the title of property under the language in the bill. Conversation between Senator Spence and Senator Hudak on this issue ensued. Senator Romer weighed in on the conversation as well, providing an example to illustrate the ownership of the property. Senator King provided further clarification to the issue. Committee discussion continued.

02:20 PM

Committee discussion around the ownership and title of capital construction continued.


BILL:	SB09-176
TIME:	02:23:43 PM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-176, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 7-0 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Absent
	Bacon	Yes

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

02:24 PM -- House Bill 09-1057

Senator Bacon, sponsor of House Bill 09-1057, presented the bill to the committee. He provided a handout summarizing the bill (Attachment C). The bill allows employees of Colorado businesses to take up to 18 hours per academic year of unpaid leave to attend parent-teacher conferences or other academic activities.

The Bell Policy Center also provided a handout summarizing its support of the bill (Attachment D).

02:28 PM

Senator Bacon responded to committee questions about who falls under the provisions of the bill.

02:29 PM

The following persons testified:

02:30 PM -- Lorena Garcia, representing the Colorado Chapter of 9 to 5, testified in support of the bill. She responded to earlier committee questions around which businesses are impacted by the bill. Ms. Garcia said the bill is good for parents, schools, and businesses' bottom line. She talked about the importance of work/family integration and parental involvement in schools.

Ms. Garcia responded to committee questions and comments, including questions about employers that do not allow workers flexibility to attend school functions. Senator Bacon spoke to issues faced by employees, who particularly in this economic climate, may be fearful of asking for this flexibility.

02:39 PM

Senator Bacon responded to a committee question about the enforcement of the provisions of the bill.

02:40 PM -- Chyrese Exline, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Exline talked about her children and their accomplishments. She talked about the importance of parental involvement.

Ms. Exline responded to committee questions and comments.

02:47 PM -- David Sanger, representing the Colorado Council of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), testified in support of the bill. He said the achievement of students increases as parental involvement increases.

02:49 PM -- Bernadette "Bernie" Jiron, representing the Denver Federation for Paraprofessionals (DFP), testified in support of the bill. She talked about parents who are not able to attend parent meetings, parent/teacher conferences, and school programs. She said all working parents should have equitable access.

Ms. Jiron responded to committee questions.

02:52 PM -- Dan Daly, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in support of the bill. He said parental involvement is a key element in increasing student academic achievement and school success. Mr. Daly talked about shared responsibility in education. He said the bill does not present an economic issue, rather a philosophical issue, between supporters and opponents of the bill.

Mr. Daly responded to committee questions and comments.

03:01 PM

Committee discussion with Mr. Daly continued, with conversation about the problem being addressed by the bill. President Groff made remarks to the bill, talking about sacrifices that must be made to reform education.

03:05 PM

Senator King asked about changes made to the bill in the House, specifically the change striking "unpaid" from the language in subsection (1) of Section 8-13.3-103, C.R.S. Mr. Daly responded, explaining that the bill does not require paid leave in its current form. Committee discussion around this issue continued, with explanation from Senator Bacon about the reason for the amendment in the House.

03:11 PM

Senator Hudak asked Mr. Daly to talk about the activities defined as "academic activities" in the bill. Conversation between Senator Hudak and Mr. Daly on these issues ensued.

03:15 PM -- Tara Trujillo, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Trujillo talked about problems associated with lack of family involvement in education. She said the bill represents one stitch in closing the achievement gap. She talked about lack of free time for low-income parents to attend school functions.

03:18 PM -- Larry Bush, a school psychologist for Jefferson County Schools representing at-risk children, testified in support of the bill. He described his background and his duties related to increasing parental involvement in his school. He talked about a research project around what impacts student achievement, saying that the way lower socioeconomic parents feel about taking time off has an impact.

03:23 PM

Mr. Bush responded to committee questions and comments. He talked about the use of technology for feedback and collaboration. Mr. Bush provided an example illustrating why face-to-face meetings are often needed.

Committee discussion with Mr. Bush continued, with conversation around finding ways to accommodate parent schedules for meetings. Mr. Bush provided further examples of issues the bill might address. Committee discussion ensued.

03:32 PM

Committee discussion around accommodating parental involvement continued.

In response to a committee question, Mr. Bush talked about the negative impact it has on a child when his or her parent cannot attend school activities.

03:35 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. She talked about the critical triad in education: the parent, the student, and the teacher. Dr. Urschel spoke to earlier committee discussion, saying the hypothesis of the bill is removing barriers to communication.

03:37 PM -- Virginia Love, representing the Colorado Competitive Council (C3), testified in opposition to the bill. She said the bill has been brought forward with no data or statistics about current policies or how many employees the bill would help. Ms. Love said putting the policy in statute creates a cause of action. She talked about issues around accrual of leave, noting businesses do not give employees 18 hours of leave when they are first hired.

Ms. Love responded to committee questions. Senator Hudak suggested changing "and" to "or" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. Ms. Love agreed that this would be a helpful amendment. Senator Romer commented that parenting and educating is a two-way street, and business and schools need to meet in the middle.

03:47 PM

Senator Heath talked about the issues businesses face and expressed support for Senator Hudak's proposal.

03:49 PM -- Loren Furman, representing the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry (CACI), testified in opposition to the bill. She said there were significant improvements to the bill in the House, but CACI still opposes the bill. Ms. Furman talked about burdens being placed on businesses, saying the bill is moving away from education toward mandates on businesses.

Ms. Furman responded to committee questions and comments.

03:53 PM -- Christine O'Donnell, representing the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association, testified in opposition to the bill. She talked about her experiences as a working mother, and said too much onus is put on business. Ms. O'Donnell said most employers already provide as much flexibility as possible for parents. She talked about the division the bill creates between workers who are parents and workers who are not parents. She talked about cuts and new mandates faced by industry in recent months.

03:58 PM

Senator Bacon made closing comments to the bill and provided clarification to earlier committee questions around the removal of the word "unpaid" on page 4, line 17 of the bill. He also spoke to the issue of changing "and" to "or" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. The committee discussed this language.

04:01 PM -- At the request of Senator Bacon, Carolyn Siegel, representing 9 to 5, came to the table to speak to the amendments made to the bill in the House. The committee discussed the amendments and the change proposed by Senator Hudak.

04:07 PM

Senator King spoke to an amendment he would offer, amendment L.024 (Attachment E), saying it is seeking a better balance between employers and the school. The committee discussed the proposed amendments further.

04:10 PM

Ms. Siegel responded to further committee questions about the changes made in the House.

04:15 PM

Senator King explained amendment L.024 (Attachment E), which he said goes to the balance between businesses and schools.


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:16:25 PM
MOVED:	King K.
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.024 (Attachment E). Senator Bacon moved a substitute motion (see the next vote sheet), which passed, so this amendment was rendered moot.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff
	Heath
	Hudak
	King K.
	Scheffel
	Spence
	Romer
	Bacon

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


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:17:06 PM
MOVED:	Bacon
MOTION:	Moved a substitute motion to Senator King's motion moving amendment L.024. Change "AND" to "OR" on page 5, line 4 of the bill. The motion passed on a 7-1 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	No
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

Not Final YES: 7 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:20 PM

Senator King explained amendment L.025 (Attachment F).


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:21:01 PM
MOVED:	King K.
MOTION:	Moved amendment L.025 (Attachment F). The motion failed on a 2-6 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	No
	Heath	No
	Hudak	No
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	No
	Romer	No
	Bacon	No

Not Final YES: 2 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:22:22 PM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	Moved a conceptual amendment to make the bill a three-year pilot applying only to state employees. The motion failed on a 3-5 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	No
	Heath	No
	Hudak	No
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	No
	Bacon	No

Not Final YES: 3 NO: 5 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:24:41 PM
MOVED:	Hudak
MOTION:	Moved an amendment to page 4, line 7, of the bill. Changing "kindergarten" to "preschool". The motion passed without objection but was subsequently reconsidered (see next vote sheet). Upon reconsideration, the chair ruled the amendment does not fit under the title.
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:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:25:41 PM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	Moved to reconsider Senator Hudak's amendment changing "kindergarten" to "preschool". The motion passed on a 7-1 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	No
	King K.	Yes
	Scheffel	Yes
	Spence	Yes
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

Not Final YES: 7 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

04:27 PM

The chair ruled that Senator Hudak's amendment did not fit under the title of the bill.

Committee members made comments to the bill, explaining their support or opposition to the bill. Examples of parental involvement in education and school activities were discussed.


BILL:	HB09-1057
TIME:	04:33:53 PM
MOVED:	Bacon
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 09-1057, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 5-3 vote.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Groff	Yes
	Heath	Yes
	Hudak	Yes
	King K.	No
	Scheffel	No
	Spence	No
	Romer	Yes
	Bacon	Yes

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

04:40 PM

The committee took a brief recess.

04:55 PM -- House Bill 09-1065

Senator Spence, sponsor of House Bill 09-1065, presented the bill to the committee. The bill extends the Quality Teachers Commission and creates an educator identifier pilot program. She provided a handout from the Rose Community Foundation that indicates the foundation has identified the development of a unique educator identifier system as a top priority in 2009 (Attachment G).

Senator Spence described the formation and work of the Quality Teachers Commission. She talked about the goal of closing the teacher quality gap and the genesis of the idea of the educator identifier system.

05:02 PM

Senator Spence continued, talking about why the educator identifier system is important for Colorado, speaking to the importance of reliable data on the teacher workforce and the importance of being able to link teachers with the students they instruct in order to learn which teachers are the most effective in increasing student achievement.

She said the identifier system will track teacher demographic and licensure information, as well as other items related to the teacher workforce. She said it will allow sound, data-driven policy decisions. Senator Spence said 14 states have a teacher identifier and said that in 2006, three states talked to the Quality Teachers Commission to relate their experiences. She described what the commission heard from those states.

05:10 PM

Senator Spence continued with her discussion about the experiences of other states that have unique teacher identifiers.

05:14 PM

Senator Spence explained that there would be testimony only on the bill today and that action and amendments would be considered next week. She talked about the possibility of using federal stimulus dollars for implementation of the program.

05:16 PM

Senator Spence responded to committee questions, including a question about the data that will be collected using the identifier. She reiterated that the purpose is to address the achievement gap by addressing the teacher gap.

Senator Spence responded to a committee question about her intent with regard to use of the data. She said the data can be used to link students to teachers to find out how much progress students are making. She said it is not expected to be used in a punitive way against teachers.

05:22 PM

The committee discussed movement of students from one teacher to another and how the data might be used with other tools to determine teacher quality. They also discussed decisions made by school districts and how the data might be used at a statewide level.

05:29 PM

The following persons testified:

05:29 PM -- Robert Reichardt, representing himself, testified in support of the bill. He said the bill is about creating a system for state policy leaders to learn about equity issues in education across the state and about creating data systems that districts can use. He said the bill seeks to link data about teachers to their students and allows policy makers to see whether systems are working. Mr. Reichardt talked about what the data has shown in other states. He said creating the system gives tools to small and mid-sized districts to provide on-going feedback to teachers. He talked about how districts in the state that already collect this data are using the data. Mr. Reichardt said that without a teacher identifier, state policy makers are flying blind about whether policies are working.

05:37 PM

Mr. Reichardt continued, explaining that he has questions about some portions of the bill, saying the might restrict districts that already use similar systems and might discourage participation. He also expressed concern about provisions disallowing use of data to sanction educator preparation programs. Mr. Reichardt also expressed concern that the program is a pilot.

05:40 PM

Mr. Reichardt responded to committee questions, including a question about how other states have used teacher identifiers to "weed out" bad teachers or programs. He talked about what districts who are already using identifiers have done and about what other states have done.

He also responded to a committee question about his concerns around sanctions, clarifying his point of view. Committee discussion around sanctions ensued.

05:47 PM

The committee and the witness discussed how data might be used at the school level, and whether and how data should be shared at that level. Mr. Reichardt responded to another committee question about linking student and teacher data and the need for the state-level system. Committee discussion around the sanction language and the data collected continued.

05:56 PM -- Dan Daly, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in support of the bill in its current form. He provided a handout containing excerpts from the findings of the Quality Teachers Commission (Attachment H). Mr. Daly said the fear about the bill is that it will be used to compare teachers to teachers in other districts without consideration of other factors such as class size, etcetera. He said the best teachers will not want to go into difficult teaching situations if the data is used in that way. He talked about bipartisan support for the bill and talked about the importance of specific teacher protection offered in the bill. Mr. Daly said the bill strikes an appropriate balance in disallowing sanctions.

06:05 PM

Mr. Daly spoke to earlier committee questions around the sanction language. He asked the committee to respect the work of the Quality Teachers Commission and reject attempts to undermine protections for educators under the bill. He also spoke to earlier questions about what data would be collected.

06:07 PM

Mr. Daly responded to committee comments and questions, including a comment about what is in the best interest of children and a question about how teachers are evaluated. Discussion between Mr. Daly and President Groff around the sanctions language, specifically the language added in the House, ensued. Senator Romer joined the conversation, talking about use of data at the district and school level. Mr. Daly talked about the data that would come out of the system, saying it is not new data, and explaining that the bill seeks to link data.

06:19 PM

Senator Bacon asked a clarifying question to the discussion around sanctions and sharing of data between districts. Committee discussion ensued.

06:25 PM

The committee continued to talk about what data would be collected, and whether any of that data is new data. In addition, there was discussion about what constitutes a sanction and the competition for federal "Race for the Top" grants.

06:30 PM

The committee discussed specificity in the bill and the data collected. The committee also discussed revisiting the issue after a period of time to determine how well the system is working. There was discussion around what data can be used by districts under the provisions of the bill.

06:41 PM -- Scott Groginsky, representing the Quality Teachers Commission, testified in support of the bill. He provided a handout containing the January 2009 report of the commission and the commission's 2008 recommendations related to educator identifiers (Attachment I). Mr. Groginsky described the commission's duties and its recommendations around educator identifiers.

06:50 PM

Mr. Groginsky responded to committee questions, including a question about the language in the bill, and whether the commission supports the bill in its current form. He said the commission does support the current language. Committee discussion on this topic continued. Mr. Groginsky responded to the question about what the data collected using the identifier includes. Senator Romer commented about the bill in relation to "Race for the Top" grant moneys.

06:56 PM

Committee discussion around "Race for the Top" ensued, with conversation about whether the language in the bill hinders the chance of those grants coming to the state. The committee returned to the discussion around what the data is and how the data is used.

07:02 PM

07:02 PM -- Richard Wenning, Colorado Department of Education (CDE), testified in support of the bill. He said the CDE is uncomfortable with the sanction language because it restricts a district's ability to use data from the identifier. He said the issue of how the data is used should be left up to the district. He spoke to the federal grants and the federal stabilization package, talking about eligibility for those funds.

07:08 PM

Dr. Wenning responded to committee questions.

07:11 PM -- Lindsay Neil, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. She said no teacher should have their performance judged by a single indicator. She spoke to earlier committee discussion about cross-district comparisons of data, saying the Children's Campaign does not support limiting the use of the data. Ms. Neil said there are many uses for the educator identifier, too many to be predicted at this time.

07:15 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. She expressed concerns around limiting the use of data. She talked about using data to improve student achievement. Dr. Urschel talked about how long it takes to help a student who spends a year with a bad teacher. She said the bill is linking teacher performance to student achievement. She proposed language around how the data could be used.

07:21 PM -- Bruce Caughey, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in favor of the bill. He said CASE cannot support the bill in its current form due to the language around use of data. He talked about looking at outputs rather than inputs, and a focus on teacher effectiveness.

07:25 PM -- Brad Jupp, from the Denver Public Schools (DPS), testified in support of the bill. He related the experience of DPS over the past ten years. He talked about uses for the data that would be collected. He said the state can take a lead role in helping districts. He talked about the importance of taking a step forward in teacher effectiveness.

07:32 PM

Mr. Jupp responded to committee questions, including a question about how to alleviate fears around the educator identifier.

07:36 PM

Senator Bacon said the bill would be brought back for action only on a date to be determined.

The committee adjourned.