Date: 03/04/2013

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB13-1172

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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02:21 PM -- House Bill 13-1172

Representative Priola, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 13-1172 which concerns creating accountability measures to increase parent involvement in Colorado's K-12 public schools. The introduced bill proposes to replace the terms used for accreditation categories of public schools with letter grades A through F, and rename the corresponding improvement plan required for each accreditation category. The bill also allows the parents of students in a public school that has been designated as low-performing for two consecutive years to petition the State Board of Education (SBE) to require the local board of education to take corrective action sooner than the five years that is provided in current statute. If parents submit a valid petition, the SBE must consider the request at its next regular public meeting, and may choose to reject or accept the petition request, or may choose to reconsider the petition request the following school year. If the SBE accepts the petition, the SBE may either:
• direct the local school board to replace the management of the school;
• allow the school to be reorganized as either a charter school or an innovation school; or
• close the school.

If the school is chartered by the state Charter School Institute (CSI), the SBE will direct the CSI to take the corrective action.

Representative Priola distributed a packet to the committee members (Attachment B) and responded to questions from the committee about the use of an A through F rating scale.

13HseEd0304AttachB.pdf13HseEd0304AttachB.pdf

The following persons testified:

02:43 PM -- Dr. Elliott Asp, representing Cherry Creek School District, testified in opposition to the bill. Dr. Asp explained that the school district does not support the bill because the parent trigger provisions in the bill are not in line with what the district views as a proper amount of time for school improvement. He stated that changing the labels under the state accreditation system to a letter scale will lead to public confusion and lack of knowledge, and will have unintended consequences. He stated that the school district has worked very hard to make the accreditation category information available to school district staff, parents, and educators, and expressed concern about having to start the process all over again. He stated that the district does not want to oversimplify the accreditation rates and asked the bill sponsor to leave well enough alone. Dr. Asp responded to questions from the committee members concerning parents' use of the current accreditation category system to select a school, and the appropriate amount of time to allow schools to improve their performance.

03:06 PM -- Vinny Badolato, representing the Colorado League of Charter Schools, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Badolato stated that parents are not willing to wait for five years for a school to turn around, but want change immediately. He stated that five years at a failing school may not be good for children.

03:10 PM -- Dr. Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in opposition to the bill. She stated that CASB strongly supports the concept of parents serving as change agents, but that Colorado is a local control state and that successful turnaround of schools requires balance of state and local control. She stated that students are very aware of the rating given to their school. She stated that SchoolView is an excellent tool for looking at Colorado K-12 school performance.

03:22 PM -- Walt Cooper, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Cooper stated that the bill undermines elements of Senate Bill 09-163, which transformed the way the state thinks about educational accountability. He stated that working in schools and implementing key reforms presents challenges and creates unnecessary uncertainty in the state, and that Colorado has a strong tradition of local school boards which include significant parental involvement. He stated that the bill pushes up the clock on a law that hasn't worked through its first cycle. He stated that using an A through F system is not clear and does not communicate adequate information about school performance.


03:26 PM

The committee took a brief recess.


03:32 PM

The committee came back to order.

03:32 PM -- Julie Whitacre, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in opposition to the bill. She discussed the petition and how its validity would be confirmed and how timely notification would be made, and questioned the procedure for gathering signatures. She stated that parents need to be involved in education, but that policy needs to address proper communication that encourages parents and teachers to work together.

03:36 PM -- Sally Augden, representing the League of Women Voters, testified in opposition to the bill. Ms. Augden stated that effective reform of schools takes three to five years and that it takes oversight from local school boards.

03:40 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing Stand for Children Colorado, testified on the bill. He stated that Stand for Children Colorado is neutral on the bill, and stated that the organization's focus is on identifying the most promising strategies to get kids through school and to college. He discussed the merits of the bill, stating there is an urgent need to provide parents with clear information on meeting students' needs, and that the bill provides an avenue for parent advocacy. He discussed what is happening in other states in regards to early review of school performance and stated that it is unclear that the practice will result in improvements for students. He stated that using letter grades to categorize schools will increase transparency, but oversimplies how schools are meeting diverse student needs. He referred the committee to a report completed by the Buechner Institute of Governance at the University of Colorado Denver, which focuses on parental use of the current accreditation rating system in choosing a school for their children. Mr. Jaeger responded to questions from the committee.

03:52 PM -- Scott LeBand, President of Colorado Succeeds, testified on the bill. He stated that Colorado Succeeds is neutral on the bill, but that they support the use of an A through F rating system. He stated that such a system is easy for parents to understand and that information is power. He stated that the current school labeling system is virtually incomprehensible to parents. He discussed the work of Colorado Succeeds and the rating system being employed on the ColoradoSchoolGrades.com website. Discussion between the witness and the committee ensued.

04:15 PM -- Pauline Olvera, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Olvera stated that she is in favor of the bill because it makes the performance of schools easily available to parents. She stated that the current rating system is full of jargon and that it is difficult for parents to be fully involved when they do not understand the data available to them. Ms. Olvera responded to questions from the committee members.


04:32 PM

Representative Hamner stated that House Bill 13-1172 will be laid over until Wednesday, March 6, at upon adjournment, and will be on the table for action only. The committee adjourned.