Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT EDUCATION

Date:02/13/2013
ATTENDANCE
Time:07:49 AM to 08:53 AM
Buckner
Court
Place:HCR 0112
Everett
Fields
This Meeting was called to order by
Heath
Senator Hudak
Hill
Holbert
This Report was prepared by
Johnston
Rachel Kurtz-Phelan
Kerr
Landgraf
Marble
Murray
Peniston
Pettersen
Priola
Renfroe
Scheffel
Todd
Wilson
Young
Hamner
Hudak
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
Colorado School Finance Project Presentation
Colorado School Finance Partnership Presentation		Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only
Witness Testimony and/or Committee Discussion Only


07:49 AM -- Colorado School Finance Project Presentation

Senator Hudak, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, welcomed the committee members and audience to the Joint Committee on Education. Tracie Rainey, Colorado School Finance Project, came to the table. She distributed a handout (Attachment A) and began her presentation on school finance in Colorado. She talked about the Public School Finance Act of 1994, which created a fifty-fifty split between state and local share for school funding and emphasized the importance of access as opposed to proficiency. She explained that since the Act passed, school enrollment continues to grow, a increasing percentage of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, there are 186 different languages spoken in schools throughout the state, and there has been an increase in the population of special needs students. Ms. Rainey stated that education goals are now moving more towards proficiency, and that Colorado is $2,500 dollars below the national average for per pupil funding, or a total of $2 billion under the national average when examined as an aggregate. She spoke about the state constitutional requirement for a uniform and equitable education system, and stated that Colorado must keep the education system accessible, adaptable, and adequate for students moving forward in the future. She also stated that the system must remain adequate and equitable from a tax payer perspective.

13JtEd0213AttachA.pdf13JtEd0213AttachA.pdf


07:57 AM

Ms. Rainey continued her presentation and spoke about the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K), educator effectiveness, accountability, the Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act, new student assessments, workforce readiness, and the importance of examining what the costs are to implementing these new policies, programs, and systems. She explained that there are four accepted methodologies to use in determining the cost of providing education, which are: professional judgement; successful school districts; evidence based research; and statistical evidence. Ms. Rainey stated that the successful school district approach looks at which school districts are currently meeting a set of expectations. She explained that this approach does not look at other cost pressures such as size of the district and make-up of the student population. She stated that the professional judgement methodology is Colorado-specific because it looks at student populations and the current expectations, standards, and requirements in place, and takes into account the size and make-up of a school district to see if it represents the size and make-up of the population in the district it serves.


08:04 AM

Ms. Rainey spoke about the resource needs identified by a professional judgement panel outlined on page 11 of Attachment A. She explained that the panel looked at teacher salaries in Colorado compared to the national average, as well as system and technology changes that are needed in order to fully implement the new education policies that have been adopted by the state. She told the committee that when adjusting the current school finance formula or creating a new school finance formula, it's important to think about the fact that Colorado is very diverse and has different cost pressures in different areas of the state. She stated that the best way to deliver programs such as those for English language learners (ELL), special needs, and at-risk students, is around economies of scale, and stated that it's important to determine how to translate this in to a funding formula that includes adjustments and weight factors.


08:13 AM

Representative Young asked Ms. Rainey to comment on why there have not been any studies done on the impacts of the new funding mechanisms in Colorado. She responded that funding evaluations take place after procedures and policies have been fully implemented. Senator Hudak commented on the results of the costing-out update. Committee discussion ensued about the costs to implement all of the recommendations made by the professional judgement panels.



















08:22 AM -- Colorado School Finance Partnership Presentation

Chris Watney, President and CEO, Colorado Children's Campaign, and Co-Chair of the Colorado School Finance Partnership (Partnership), Cary Kennedy, Chief Financial Officer, City and County of Denver, and Co-Chair of the Partnership, and Bob Deibel, President, OfficeScapes, and Co-Chair of the Partnership, came to the table to begin their presentation. They distributed two handouts (Attachment B and Attachment C). Ms. Watney provided some background information on the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Partnership, and spoke about the importance of looking at the school finance system funding streams and how they support the innovations in education policy that Colorado has enacted in recent years. She explained that the Partnership is made up of a diverse group of education stakeholders that developed a set of recommendations to provide to the General Assembly regarding school finance. She explained that the group had complete consensus on each of the final recommendations.

13JtEd0213AttachB.pdf13JtEd0213AttachB.pdf 13JtEd0213AttachC.pdf13JtEd0213AttachC.pdf


08:34 AM

Mr. Deibel told the committee about his background as a business owner and stated that economic development and education go hand-in-hand. He talked about the importance of the business community investing in improved student outcome in order to shape a workforce that is ready to compete in the 21st century. He spoke about the principles of the Partnership in determining a set of recommendations, such as return on investment and the ability to measure whether funding is having a positive impact on student outcomes. Mr. Deibel stated that there are four areas on which the recommendations focus: alignment and accountability in student outcomes; innovation; equity in the system; and sufficiency in conjunction with an appropriate degree of reform. He explained in further detail what alignment and accountability in student outcomes and innovation mean in terms of education funding.


08:44 AM

Ms. Kennedy spoke about the areas of equity and sufficiency and the recommendations the Partnership made in these areas. She stated that it's imperative to look at how the state and community raise funds as well as how these funds are distributed. Ms. Kennedy told the committee that the achievement gap in Colorado between wealthy and poor children is among the highest in the U.S., and that the negative factor has cut funding to at-risk youth by two-thirds. She explained that it's important to provide adequate funding for special needs education and early intervention programs, and funding to districts needs to be based on accurate student counts throughout the year. She concluded by stating that the Partnership recommends that the School Finance Act should be written in a way that ensures a thorough and uniform funding system for Colorado's schools.


08:52 AM

The committee adjourned.