House Committee on Education (02/25/2013)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	02/25/2013	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:30 PM to 03:00 PM	Buckner	X
		Court	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Everett	X
		Fields	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Holbert	*
	Representative Hamner	Landgraf	*
		Murray	X
This Report was prepared by		Pettersen	*
	Kristen Johnson	Priola	E
		Wilson	X
		Young	X
		Peniston	X
		Hamner	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB13-1220 HB13-1007 SB13-002		Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:31 PM -- House Bill 13-1220

Representative Hamner, Chair, called the meeting to order and welcomed the committee members and audience to the meeting. She invited Representative Salazar, prime sponsor, to the table to present House Bill 13-1220 which concerns confidentiality of educator performance data. The bill clarifies that school districts, Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), the State Board of Education (SBE), and the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) may collect information concerning individual educators' performance evaluation ratings, and student assessment results linked to the educator, but that in such instances, the identity of the individual educator must remain confidential. Representative Salazar stated that the bill does not keep assessment data private, but limits the ability to identify which educator is being evaluated.

Representative Salazar responded to questions from the committee.

The following persons testified:

01:37 PM -- Amie Baca-Ohlert, Vice President of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in support of the bill. Ms. Baca-Ohlert stated that CEA supports the timely and appropriate use of educator performance data and that effective statewide educator evaluation systems provide valid feedback regarding instructional practices. She stated that if the educator evaluation system is working properly, then there is no need for individual educator data to distributed to anyone except for the educator and the educator's supervisor. Ms. Baca-Ohlert responded to questions from the committee. She stated that when there is an evaluation system in place that measures the effectiveness of an educator, the system is going to be used to enhance educator growth and will identify educators that need to be removed from the system due to ineffectiveness.

01:45 PM -- Chris Benisch, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in support of the bill. Mr. Benisch stated that educator evaluation data should be kept private in order to support educators in their practices and daily activities, and that making such data public will hinder the evaluation process. He responded to questions from the committee.

01:48 PM -- Rosann Ward, representing the Quality Teachers Commission, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Ward provided background on the commission and its goals. She stated that the commission concluded that the teacher gap can be closed by not exposing students to ineffective teachers for more than two years in a row.

01:52 PM -- Dr. Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Urschel stated that keeping information identifying educators and their evaluation outcomes private will help educators grow.

01:53 PM

Representative Salazar distributed Amendment L.002 (Attachment A) and explained how the amendment changes the bill.

13HseEd0225AttachA.pdf


BILL:	HB13-1220
TIME:	01:54:04 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Fields
		VOTE
	Buckner
	Court
	Everett
	Fields
	Holbert
	Landgraf
	Murray
	Pettersen
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson
	Young
	Peniston
	Hamner

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB13-1220
TIME:	01:55:01 PM
MOVED:	Court
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 13-1220, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 10-2, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Young
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	Landgraf	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	Yes
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

01:58 PM -- Senate Bill 13-002

Representative Peniston took the seat as Chair and welcomed Representative Hamner, prime sponsor, to the table to present Senate Bill 13-002 which concerns designating Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) as local education agencies (LEA) for the purposes of federal law. The bill allows a BOCES to act as a LEA for the purposes of applying for and receiving state or federal grant money. An LEA is a federal designation for the administrative unit responsible for receiving grant awards. A BOCES may apply for grant funding with the approval of two or more of its participating member school districts. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) must inform BOCES of all grant opportunities administered by the department and permit them to apply.

The following persons testified:

02:00 PM -- Dr. Dale McCall, representing the Colorado BOCES Association, testified in support of the bill. Dr. McCall stated that 19 BOCES in Colorado serve 164 school districts. He discussed rural school districts and the use of federal Race to the Top funds, and stated that because the rural school districts' BOCES was not designated as an LEA, each district was required to apply for the grant on its own. Dr. McCall responded to questions from the committee members.

02:09 PM -- Don Anderson, Executive Director of the East-Central BOCES, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Anderson stated that the East-Central BOCES represents 21 school districts, from Bennet to Burlington. He stated that 20 of the 21 school districts turn the federal money that they receive over to the BOCES and the BOCES handles the money on the school districts' behalf. He discussed Race to the Top funds, and stated that because the BOCES is not designated as an LEA, the process for the distribution of the grant funds could not be handled in the usual way and that each school district had to apply for the funds on their own. He added that the East-Central BOCES supports the bill because BOCES can help school districts become effective and efficient if designated as LEAs.

02:12 PM -- Dr. Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in support of the bill. Dr. Urschel stated that CASB has a long, historic, and polite relationship with the BOCES and is happy to see that the BOCES have taken this on.

02:13 PM -- Jane Ritter, Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to respond to a question about the bill's language.

Representative Peniston laid over the bill for amendments and the final action vote until the end of the committee meeting.

02:15 PM -- House Bill 13-1007

Representative Hamner returned as committee Chair and Representative Peniston, prime sponsor, came to the table to present House Bill 13-1007 which concerns the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission. The bill reestablishes the Early Childhood and School Readiness Legislative Commission as an interim legislative committee beginning in the 2013 interim. The commission will be supported by legislative staff and members of the commission are eligible for per diem and reimbursement of expenses. The members of the commission are appointed by legislative leadership.

Representative Peniston read aloud the legislative declaration section of the bill and discussed the importance of early childhood education. She responded to questions from the committee.

The following person testified:

02:26 PM -- Jennifer Landrum, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Landrum stated that three decades of research link early childhood education to lasting impacts on learning, health, and better school, employment, and life outcomes. She stated that early childhood learning programs have been instrumental in improving young children's lives. She discussed the accomplishments of the Colorado Children's Campaign. She responded to questions from the committee.

02:36 PM

Julie Pelegrin, Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to respond to the committee's questions about the reporting dates in the bill.

Representative Peniston distributed Amendment L.001 (Attachment B) and explained how it changes the bill.

13HseEd0225AttachB.pdf


BILL:	HB13-1007
TIME:	02:40:15 PM
MOVED:	Peniston
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.001 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Buckner
	Court
	Everett
	Fields
	Holbert
	Landgraf
	Murray
	Pettersen
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson
	Young
	Peniston
	Hamner

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

02:42 PM

Representative Holbert distributed Amendment L.002 (Attachment C) and explained the changes it makes to the bill.

13HseEd0225AttachC.pdf


BILL:	HB13-1007
TIME:	02:43:53 PM
MOVED:	Holbert
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Everett
		VOTE
	Buckner
	Court
	Everett
	Fields
	Holbert
	Landgraf
	Murray
	Pettersen
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson
	Young
	Peniston
	Hamner

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB13-1007
TIME:	02:46:17 PM
MOVED:	Peniston
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 13-1007, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 7-5, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Fields
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	Landgraf	No
	Murray	No
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	No
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

02:55 PM -- Senate Bill 13-002

Representative Peniston returned as committee Chair and Representative Hamner came back to the table as bill sponsor, of Senate Bill 13-002. Representative Peniston opened up the amendment phase of the hearing and Representative Hamner distributed Amendment L.002 (Attachment D).

13HseEd0225AttachD.pdf


BILL:	SB13-002
TIME:	02:56:11 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Young
		VOTE
	Buckner
	Court
	Everett
	Fields
	Holbert
	Landgraf
	Murray
	Pettersen
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson
	Young
	Peniston
	Hamner

YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	SB13-002
TIME:	02:58:08 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 13-002, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 10-2, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Landgraf
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	Landgraf	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	Yes
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 2 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:00 PM

The committee adjourned.