Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:04/24/2013
ATTENDANCE
Time:09:38 AM to 12:52 PM
Buckner
X
Court
X
Place:HCR 0112
Everett
X
Fields
X
This Meeting was called to order by
Holbert
X
Representative Hamner
Landgraf
X
Murray
X
This Report was prepared by
Pettersen
X
Kristen Johnson
Priola
X
Wilson
X
Young
X
Peniston
X
Hamner
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
SB13-148
SB13-217
HB13-1315
SB13-260
HB13-1320		Amended, Referred to Legislative Council
Referred to Appropriations
Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Amended, Referred to Appropriations
Referred to Appropriations


09:38 AM -- Senate Bill 13-148

Representative Hamner, Chair, called the meeting to order and welcomed the committee and audience. She explained that witness testimony on all of the bills on the agenda would be limited to three minutes per person. She called Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, to the table to receive a gift of flowers from the committee, in appreciation of her work on Senate Bill 13-213. Representative Hamner invited Representative Peniston and Representative Navarro, co-prime sponsors, to the table to present Senate Bill 13-148 which concerns the continuation of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC). The reengrossed bill extends the COYAC until July 1, 2018, and makes the following changes related to COYAC's purpose, membership, duties, and reporting requirements:

Representative Navarro provided opening comments to the bill, stating that the work done at the Capitol has a profound impact on the generations that follow, and that the members of COYAC work hard and are dedicated to providing the voice of Colorado's youth in the legislature. Representative Peniston provided opening comments to the bill, and discussed the reason that the members of COYAC were unable to attend the hearing. She stated that their absence in no way reflects their passion and commitment to COYAC, but rather, that there were scheduling challenges with the bill that prevented them from attending. She referred to the Department of Regulatory Agencies' 2012 sunset review of COYAC (Attachment A), and stated that the review found that COYAC should continue.

13HseEd0424AttachA.pdf13HseEd0424AttachA.pdf

Representative Murray asked which organization currently supports the group. Representative Peniston stated that Civic Canopy supports COYAC, and that they backfill some of the funding for COYAC that the General Assembly does not provide. Representative Court commented that COYAC is a fabulous program and that its members are very dedicated. Representative Landgraf asked how students find out about COYAC. Representative Navarro stated that information on the program is provided to each school.

The following person testified:

09:49 AM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Urschel stated that at CASB's legislative conference in February, members of COYAC were in attendance, and that the members of CASB were impressed by COYAC members' passion and articulate natures. She stated that the members of COYAC are the people who will sit in state legislative seats in the future.

Representative Murray asked why the bill had been amended on page 2, line 11 to remove "economic opportunities" from the list of areas to be considered by COYAC. She moved a conceptual amendment that the words be added back into the bill.

















BILL:SB13-148
TIME: 09:52:00 AM
MOVED:Murray
MOTION:Adopt a conceptual amendment to Senate Bill 13-148. Amend printed bill, page 2, line 11, insert "economic opportunities," after "and". The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Holbert
VOTE
Buckner
Court
Everett
Fields
Holbert
Landgraf
Murray
Pettersen
Priola
Wilson
Young
Peniston
Hamner
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection




























BILL:SB13-148
TIME: 09:53:37 AM
MOVED:Peniston
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 13-148, as amended, to the Committee on Legislative Council. The motion passed on a vote of 11-2.
SECONDED:Landgraf
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
Landgraf
Yes
Murray
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


09:55 AM -- Senate Bill 13-217

Representative Pettersen, prime sponsor, came to the table to present Senate Bill 13-217 which concerns authorizing the State Board of Education (SBE) to consider alternative education campuses (AEC) in establishing the criteria for accreditation categories for each school district and the State Charter School Institute (CSI). The bill authorizes the SBE to consider the unique circumstances of students at AECs when making determinations about the accreditation category for an AEC, or for the school district or the CSI, in which the AEC is located. AECs are schools that have a specialized mission and serve a special needs or at-risk population, a population of more than 95 percent of students have an individualized education program (IEP), or populations that meet the definition of "high risk" students. High risk students include students currently in juvenile detention and awaiting adjudication, drop-out and expelled students, students with a documented history of drug abuse, teen parents, migrant students, homeless students, and other hard-to-educate populations.
















Representative Pettersen provided opening comments to the bill, stating that the bill does not exempt AECs from state requirements but does acknowledge the challenges faced in educating the state's hardest to educate population.

The following person testified:

09:58 AM -- Vinny Badolato, representing the Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) and speaking on behalf of the Colorado Coalition of Alternative Education Campuses (CCAEC), testified in support of the bill. Mr. Badolato distributed a report to the committee members (Attachment B) by the Donnell-Kay Foundation that examines AECs and the AEC landscape in Colorado. He stated that the bill is the result of conversations between the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and CCAEC about how to look at the performance accountability framework for AECs and school districts. He stated that AECs have a separate statutory designation based on the population they serve and are allowed to adjust their performance framework to provide a richer picture of how students who attend AECs perform. He said that the AEC performance framework feeds into the entire school district's performance framework, and that certain districts may be seen as low-performing due to the large AEC student populations being served. He stated that the bill allows the SBE to make rules to acknowledge the challenges faced by students who attend an AEC, and that the bill is the next logical step in accountability in Colorado and will keep the state from penalizing school districts that are home to AECs.

13HseEd0424AttachB.pdf13HseEd0424AttachB.pdf


Mr. Badolato responded to questions from the committee about what classifies a school as an AEC.




























BILL:SB13-217
TIME: 10:10:46 AM
MOVED:Pettersen
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 13-217 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:Everett
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
Yes
Fields
Yes
Holbert
Yes
Landgraf
Yes
Murray
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


10:12 AM -- House Bill 13-1315

Representative Fischer, prime sponsor, came to the table to present House Bill 13-1315 which concerns the authority of a governing board of an institution of higher education to mandate purchases relating to health care. Under current law, the governing board of an institution of higher education may not require that an undergraduate student purchase health care insurance or services. Institutions that had such requirements prior to 1994 are exempt from this prohibition. The bill eliminates the prohibition, and authorizes any governing board to require student health care insurance.




















Representative Landgraf asked about the provisions of federal law concerning health care coverage and if students age 26 and younger will be exempt from the provisions of HB 13-1315. Representative Fischer stated that students age 26 and younger will have a number of options for health care coverage, and will only need to provide proof of coverage if it is required by the higher education institution. He stated that it is beneficial for students to have access to health care in the university setting, and that one of the top five reasons students drop out of college is due to an unforeseen illness and lack of health care coverage. Representative Young asked for confirmation that the bill does not require students to have health insurance, but rather, lifts the current prohibition that higher education institutions not require proof of student health insurance coverage. Representative Fischer responded in the affirmative.

The following person testified:

10:20 AM -- Mike Nosler, representing the Colorado State University System (CSU), testified in support of the bill. Mr. Nosler stated that CSU wants to be treated like all of the other universities in the state, most of whom are exempt from the prohibition under current law. He stated that the bill gives all higher education institutions the ability to require proof of student health care coverage. He stated that higher education institutions want a healthy student population, and that one of the top five reasons that students leave college is due to uncovered medical expenses.

Representative Holbert asked why CSU needs the option of requiring coverage since the federal law will require this in January 2014. Mr. Nosler stated that this will apply to the incoming fall cohort at CSU. Representative Holbert asked if CSU will face a financial liability if the bill does not pass. Mr. Nosler stated that the liability is the health of the student population and their ability to have health coverage. Representative Murray asked if there is a problem now. Mr. Nosler stated that this is a real problem, and that when students complete their exit interviews with CSU, health care costs are in the top five reasons why students leave college. Representative Wilson asked if CSU benefits financially from offering health care insurance to students. Mr. Nosler stated that he does not think so, and that he believes that CSU is self-insured.

Representative Fischer made closing comments to the bill.
























BILL:HB13-1315
TIME: 10:26:49 AM
MOVED:Court
MOTION:Refer House Bill 13-1315 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 7-6.
SECONDED:Peniston
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
Landgraf
No
Murray
No
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
No
Wilson
No
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 6 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


10:28 AM -- Senate Bill 13-260

Representative Peniston began chairing the committee. Representative Hamner, prime sponsor, came to the table to present Senate Bill 13-260 which concerns the financing of public schools. The reengrossed bill changes the Public School Finance Act of 1994 by modifying the funding for K-12 public schools in FY 2013-14. The bill increases per-pupil funding to $5,954.28 to reflect a 1.9 percent inflation rate and makes changes to the way that the total program, and other public school programs, funding is calculated. In addition, the bill creates the Quality Teacher Recruitment Program.




















Representative Hamner distributed two handouts to the committee (Attachments C and D). She walked the committee through the table in Attachment C which shows how the bill impacts public school funding under current law.

13HseEd0424AttachC.pdf13HseEd0424AttachC.pdf 13HseEd0424AttachD.pdf13HseEd0424AttachD.pdf


The following persons testified:

10:37 AM -- Andrew Freedman, Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Joseph Garcia, testified on the bill. Mr. Freedman discussed early childhood education and remediation. He stated that only 30 percent of college students needing remediation end up graduating with a degree. He asked the committee to consider the importance of early childhood education and the need for high quality programs.

10:41 AM -- John Giardino, representing Colorado Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), testified on the bill. Mr. Giardino stated that Colorado PTA is neutral on the bill because it feels that more money should be allocated to early childhood education.

10:48 AM -- Sean VanBerschot, representing Teach for America, testified in support of the bill. He provided a handout to the members of the committee (Attachment E). He stated that Teach for America supports the quality teacher pipeline outlined in the bill. He stated that students from low income backgrounds deserve a quality education. He said that 67 percent of teachers who are brought up through Teach for America work in education long term. Mr. VanBerschot responded to questions from the committee.

13HseEd0424AttachE.pdf13HseEd0424AttachE.pdf

10:52 AM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Urschel stated that CASB appreciates the work put into prioritizing K-12 education funding and that CASB sees reducing the negative factor as a top priority. Dr. Urschel stated that the negative factor should continue to be reduced instead of providing funding for new programs.

10:55 AM -- Lisa Escarcega, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in support of the bill. She stated that she is also representing Aurora Public Schools with her testimony. Dr. Escarcega provided background information on Aurora Public Schools, stating that the district serves 40,000 students who speak 115 different languages. She stated that 73 percent of students in Aurora Public Schools qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, and that 85 percent of students are students of color. She discussed the history of the negative factor and recent school reform measures. She stated that her organizations support the reduction of the negative factor and want to see money put back into place, while keeping funding for new programs out of the bill.












10:59 AM -- Vinny Badolato, representing the Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS), testified in support of the bill. Mr. Badolato described the areas of the bill that CLCS likes, including: making the at-risk supplemental a permanent, fully-funded program; removing the bonus sweep of the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program; creating a floor for facilities funding for charter schools; and reducing the negative factor. He added that some charter schools in the state are funded well below the state minimum, due to the number of students they serve, but that CLCS would like to see a funding floor put in place for all public schools.

11:03 AM -- Karen Wick, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified on the bill. Ms. Wick stated that CEA is in an amend position on the bill. She stated that CEA firmly believes that as state revenues increase, more money should be devoted to reducing the negative factor and to providing more money for special education students. She stated that CEA also sees the funding for teacher quality and for the State Council on Educator Effectiveness as important components of the bill.

11:06 AM -- Maggie Lopez, representing Pueblo School District and the Pikes Peak Area Schools Alliance (alliance), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Lopez provided background information on the alliance, which serves 85,000 students, and stated that the alliance's top priority is to reduce the negative factor by as much as possible. She stated that the negative factor for Pueblo School District is about $20 million, and that the community is unlikely to support a mill levy override. She stated that Pueblo School District had the thirteenth largest at-risk student population in the state in FY 2012-13. She stated that the district has made cuts in several places including closing schools, cutting supplies, and reducing staff. She said that the district has several aging buildings in need of repair. She said that special education funding and funding for the quality teacher pipeline are priorities.

11:09 AM -- Jennifer Landrum, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Landrum discussed the Colorado Preschool Program and stated that quality early childhood education is important. She said that funding for quality ratings ensures that students are receiving high quality education that will lead to school readiness.

11:12 AM -- Sally Augden, representing the League of Women Voters, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Augden discussed the provisions of the bill.

Representative Hamner provided closing comments to the bill and distributed amendments L.027, L.028, and L.033 (Attachments F, G, and H). Representative Hamner explained amendment L.027 (Attachment F).

13HseEd0424AttachF.pdf13HseEd0424AttachF.pdf 13HseEd0424AttachG.pdf13HseEd0424AttachG.pdf

13HseEd0424AttachH.pdf13HseEd0424AttachH.pdf













BILL:SB13-260
TIME: 11:17:47 AM
MOVED:Hamner
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.027 (Attachment F). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Buckner
Court
Everett
Fields
Holbert
Landgraf
Murray
Pettersen
Priola
Wilson
Young
Peniston
Hamner
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection































11:18 PM

Representative Hamner explained amendment L.028 (Attachment G).
BILL:SB13-260
TIME: 11:19:11 AM
MOVED:Hamner
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.028 (Attachment G). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Young
VOTE
Buckner
Court
Everett
Fields
Holbert
Landgraf
Murray
Pettersen
Priola
Wilson
Young
Peniston
Hamner
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


11:20 AM

Representative Hamner explained amendment L.033 (Attachment H) which concerns funding for the Expanding Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). During the bill's hearing in the Senate, the EQIP funding was amended out of the bill. Representative Hamner stated that the amendment restores $3 million of the original $5 million being requested for the program by the introduced bill. Representative Priola requested a brief recess so that the committee could review the multi-page amendment. The committee took a brief recess.


















11:30 AM

The committee came back to order. The committee discussed the need for the amendment and the nature of the compromise being proposed by the amendment. They discussed how the amendment would impact the reduction of the negative factor.
BILL:SB13-260
TIME: 11:46:49 AM
MOVED:Hamner
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.033 (Attachment H). The motion failed on a vote of 5-8.
SECONDED:Pettersen
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
Landgraf
No
Murray
No
Pettersen
No
Priola
No
Wilson
No
Young
No
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 8 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


11:48 AM

Representative Buckner distributed amendment L.034 (Attachment I) and explained that it reduces the amount of money in the bill allocated to special education programs to free up more money for English language learner (ELL) programs. He stated that the reduction is from $20 million to $13 million. Committee discussion ensued.

13HseEd0424AttachI.pdf13HseEd0424AttachI.pdf













12:09 PM

The committee continued to discuss amendment L.034 and its impact on special education funding, ELL funding, and on the reduction of the negative factor. Craig Harper, Joint Budget Committee staff, came to the table to discuss the amendment. He discussed funding that has been allocated for ELL programs in the annual Long Bill, the source of funding for House Bill 13-1211 concerning ELL programs, funding for categorical programs, and the balance in the State Education Fund.
BILL:SB13-260
TIME: 12:24:58 PM
MOVED:Buckner
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.034 (Attachment I). The motion failed on a vote of 5-8.
SECONDED:Young
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
Landgraf
No
Murray
No
Pettersen
No
Priola
No
Wilson
No
Young
No
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
YES: 5 NO: 8 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL





















BILL:SB13-260
TIME: 12:26:27 PM
MOVED:Hamner
MOTION:Refer Senate Bill 13-260, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 11-2.
SECONDED:Murray
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
No
Fields
Yes
Holbert
No
Landgraf
Yes
Murray
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


12:27 PM -- House Bill 13-1320

Representative Waller and Representative Hullinghorst, co-prime sponsors, presented House Bill 13-1320 concerning financial support for meritorious Colorado students at state-supported institutions of higher education. Under current law, 55 percent of incoming freshmen enrolling at state institutions of higher education, and not less than two-thirds of total student enrollment, must be resident students. Beginning with the 2013 academic year, the bill allows a qualifying institution of higher education to count students identified as a "Colorado Scholar" as two resident students for purposes of calculating the required percentages and ratios of resident to nonresident students. An institution is qualified if it creates a Colorado scholar program to award institutional financial aid or scholarships to resident undergraduates based on competitive, merit-based criteria. The bill also requires that the University of Colorado system and Colorado State University ensure that the percentage of students admitted based on criteria other than statewide admissions criteria does not fall below the average of the percentage of these students admitted for the three preceding years. These institutions meet this requirement if the percentage of resident students admitted using an alternative criteria, plus the percentage of resident students enrolling as Colorado scholars, is greater than the percentage of non-resident students admitted based on the alternative criteria.













Representative Waller stated that the bill allows Colorado's best and brightest students to stay in the state and attend one of Colorado's institutions of higher education. He stated that budget cuts have left the Colorado scholar program unfunded and that the bill creates an opportunity to put more funding back into the program and to provide more scholarships to students. Representative Hullinghorst stated that Colorado needs a strong scholarship program. She stated that the University of Colorado's ability to keep top-performing high school students in the state has dropped dramatically.

The following persons testified:

12:34 PM -- Kevin MacLennan, representing the University of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. He provided a handout to the committee members (Attachment J). Mr. MacLennan discussed the increased competition for Colorado's students, and stated that scholarships are very important to recruiting and enrolling the best students. He said that merit scholarships help keep Colorado's best and brightest students in the state and entering the Colorado workforce.

13HseEd0424AttachJ.pdf13HseEd0424AttachJ.pdf

12:39 PM -- Jeremy Hueth, representing the University of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Hueth thanked the bill sponsors for their work. He stated that the bill allows more discretion on the part of institutions in regards to recruiting and enrolling non-resident students. He said that funds from non-resident student tuition will fund the merit scholarship program.

Mr. MacLennan and Mr. Hueth responded to questions from the committee.

Representative Hullinghorst requested that the bill be routed to the House Committee on Appropriations.

























BILL:HB13-1320
TIME: 12:49:58 PM
MOVED:Court
MOTION:Refer House Bill 13-1320 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 12-0, with one member excused.
SECONDED:Priola
VOTE
Buckner
Yes
Court
Yes
Everett
Excused
Fields
Yes
Holbert
Yes
Landgraf
Yes
Murray
Yes
Pettersen
Yes
Priola
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Young
Yes
Peniston
Yes
Hamner
Yes
Final YES: 12 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


12:52 PM

The committee adjourned.