House Committee on Education (04/28/2014)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	04/28/2014	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:52 PM to 03:40 PM	Buckner	X
		Court	X
Place:	HCR 0112	Everett	X
		Fields	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Holbert	X
	Representative Hamner	McNulty	X
		Murray	*
This Report was prepared by		Pettersen	X
	Lisa Gezelter	Priola	E
		Wilson	X
		Young	X
		Peniston	X
		Hamner	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB14-167 SB14-124 SB14-182		Referred to Appropriations Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:52 PM -- SB14-167

Representative Hamner, Chair, welcomed the audience and committee members. She explained that she would be laying over three bills until the committee's next meeting on Wednesday, April 30.

Representative Fields, sponsor, introduced Senate Bill 14-167, which creates a pilot initiative within the Department of Education (CDE) to provide funding to Alternative Education Campuses (AECs) for at-risk students. She discussed the definition of at-risk students, also known as opportunity youth. She discussed the need to identify best practices for helping at-risk students, how many at-risk students have been identified in Colorado, and other statistical information. She talked about dropouts, and the associated societal costs. Representative Fields responded to questions from the committee. She handed out a list of AEC campuses (Attachment A).

14HseEd0428AttachA.pdf

The following people testified:

01:58 PM -- Beth Cutter, a governing board member of Community Prep Charter School, testified in favor of the bill. She discussed the students at her school who are classified as opportunity youth. She explained that they may be victims of abuse, exiting gang involvement, former substance abusers, victims of psychiatric conditions, or teen parents. She discussed her school's partnership with Pikes Peak Community College. She explained that many of her students are the first in their families to graduate from high school, or the first in their families to attend college. She discussed a fact sheet that had been distributed to committee members (no copy provided to staff) and pointed out how the bill would benefit her school. Ms. Cutter responded to questions from the committee.

02:06 PM -- Wayne Hutchison, a governing board member of Community Prep Charter School, testified in favor of the bill. He discussed the needs of at-risk youth, also known as opportunity youth. He discussed the importance of relevant training, workplace experiences, and concurrent enrollment. He discussed the need for resources, and the benefits of cooperation among AECs. He discussed how the bill would reduce the number of dropouts, and how the bill would benefit his school.

02:10 PM -- Lydia Guzman, Assistant Principal at the Contemporary Learning Academy, testified in favor of the bill. She discussed the nature of her school, how the bill would impact students, and her students' needs. She explained that many students arrive with health or mental health issues, have attended many schools, and may have previously dropped out. She talked about how the bill would benefit the students at her school and discussed the importance of mentors to coach students in life skills. Ms. Guzman responded to questions from the committee.

02:17 PM -- Dan Schaller, Director of Advocacy for the Colorado League of Charter Schools, testified in favor of the bill. He explained that 25 percent of all AECs in Colorado are charter schools. He discussed the need for quality and innovation. Mr. Schaller responded to questions from the committee.

02:21 PM -- Reilly Pharo, Vice President of Education Initiatives for the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill. She discussed AECs across Colorado, and why these schools have little success. She discussed how the bill would benefit the students, and how successes would be replicated. She discussed a 2012 report on AECs written by the Colorado Children's Campaign.

02:23 PM -- Kim Dolan, Associate Director of the Donnell-Kay Foundation, spoke about the bill. She discussed dropout statistics, at-risk students, increased costs to the state when a student drops out, and the need to invest in successful strategies. She discussed current research, pioneering models that have seen great success, and how those models focus on integrating high quality instruction with strong academic supports. She discussed a culture of engagement, wraparound support, and other strategies to better serve opportunity youth. She explained that in Colorado, AECs are the primary pathways for opportunity youth. She discussed need to serve this population in better and different ways.

02:27 PM -- Ethan Hemming, Executive Director of the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), testified in support of the bill. He gave background information on CSI, and explained that 10 percent of CSI schools are AECs. He pointed out that 50 percent of students in CSI schools are considered at-risk. He discussed the bill's structure, and explained that it will leverage the marketplace to bring new ideas to the table. He discussed methods of assessing outcomes for students and explored the lessons that all AECs can learn about how to define efficiency and effectiveness.

02:30 PM -- Davina Miller, an economics student at the University of Colorado, spoke about the bill. She delivered an economic interpretation of the bill. She discussed at-risk students, the economic costs to the state, and how the bill's investment would yield returns.

02:35 PM

No further witnesses being present, Representative Hamner closed public testimony. Representative Fields offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB14-167
TIME:	02:43:43 PM
MOVED:	Fields
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-167 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 7-5, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Pettersen
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	McNulty	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

02:46 PM -- SB14-124

Representative Fields, sponsor, introduced Senate Bill 14-124, which creates the School Turnaround Leaders Development Program. The program will contract with providers of high-quality turnaround leadership development programs, and award grants to school districts to develop school leaders capable of turning around low-performing schools. She discussed the importance of leadership capabilities in low-performing schools. Representative Fields responded to questions from the committee.

The following people testified:

02:51 PM -- Peter Sherman, representing the Department of Education (CDE), came to the table to respond to questions from the committee. He discussed current efforts by CDE to support leadership development programs via grants. He discussed the department's successes to date. Mr. Sherman continued to respond to questions from the committee.

03:02 PM -- Dan Schaller, Director of Advocacy for the Colorado League of Charter Schools, testified in support of the bill. He discussed the need for strong leaders, particularly in charter schools, and the need for targeted investment.

03:03 PM -- Nabeehah Brown, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. She told the story of how she decided to send her children to Green Valley Elementary. She explained the school's efforts to develop its leaders, and the way that leaders can impact schools. She explained the successes of Green Valley elementary.

03:07 PM

No further witnesses being present, Representative Hamner closed public testimony. Representative Fields offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB14-124
TIME:	03:08:53 PM
MOVED:	Fields
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-124 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 7-5, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Young
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	McNulty	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

03:09 PM -- SB14-182

Representative Peniston, sponsor, introduced Senate Bill 14-182, which regulates the way school boards conduct executive sessions. She explained its relationship to House Bill 14-1110, and how its provisions differ. She explained that the bill only requires school boards to add the length of time spent discussing each topic to their executive session minutes. She discussed the need for transparency. Representative Peniston responded to questions from the committee. Representative Peniston discussed Amendment L.002 (Attachment B), which increases to 24 months the amount of time that recordings must be kept.

14HseEd0428AttachB.pdf

The following people testified:

03:16 PM -- Cristin Patterson, a parent in Douglas County, testified in favor of the bill. She discussed a trend for school boards to conduct growing portions of meetings in executive session. She discussed the need for transparency, the amount of money spent on attorneys, and how the Douglas County School Board spends 50 percent of its time in executive session. She explained that executive session is scheduled for the first two hours of every board meeting in Douglas County, and that during public meetings agenda items are often voted on 7-0 with no discussion. She argued that this must mean that discussion takes place in executive session. She discussed the partisan nature of the school board election in Douglas County and violations of campaign laws that may have taken place during the last school board election in Douglas County. She pointed out that parents need legislative help to protect their rights.

03:21 PM -- Jane Urschel, representing the Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), testified in opposition to the bill. She posited that the bill is special legislation aimed at certain school boards. She discussed the bill's history, first being aimed at all local governments, then just at school boards. She said that the bill is not an appropriate response to alleged wrongdoing by one or two school boards, and argued that there is no evidence of widespread abuse of executive session. She stated that CASB would be willing to move to a monitor position on the bill if it included a 90 day requirement to retain recordings, like all other local governmental entities. She stated that there is no reason to single out school boards with a requirement to retain recordings for 24 months. She distributed a memorandum to committee members (Attachment C).

14HseEd0428AttachC.pdf

03:25 PM -- Kathy Shannon, attorney with CASB, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee. She explained that currently, state and local public bodies have to keep recordings for 90 days and that there is no legal requirement currently for boards to keep track of the number of minutes spent on each topic in executive session.

03:27 PM

The preceding two witnesses responded to questions from the committee.

03:28 PM -- Jennifer Ross-Amato, a parent from Jefferson County, testified in support of the bill. She discussed her experiences in Jefferson County watching the school board's decisions and actions. She described her point of view as an attorney. She discussed the atmosphere of distrust and fear in Jefferson County and explained that many parents, teachers, and taxpayers do not understand why or how decisions are being made. She pointed out the need for transparency in decision making. She argued that voters need to understand how and why decisions are made. She discussed the requirement for boards to retain recordings for 24 months and suggested that there is no evidence of abuse because evidence is regularly being destroyed. Ms. Ross-Amato responded to questions from the committee.

03:34 PM

No further witnesses being present, Representative Hamner closed public testimony.


BILL:	SB14-182
TIME:	03:34:40 PM
MOVED:	Peniston
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed on a vote of 7-5, with one member excused.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Buckner	Yes
	Court	Yes
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Holbert	No
	McNulty	No
	Murray	No
	Pettersen	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	No
	Young	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Hamner	Yes

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

03:37 PM

Representative Peniston offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB14-182
TIME:	03:39:33 PM
MOVED:	Peniston
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 14-182, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. 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
	McNulty	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

03:40 PM

The committee adjourned.