House Committee on Education (05/04/2015)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:	05/04/2015	ATTENDANCE

Time:	01:33 PM to 05:47 PM	Everett	X
		Fields	*
Place:	HCR 0112	Garnett	X
		Lee	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Lundeen	X
	Representative Pettersen	Moreno	X
		Priola	X
This Report was prepared by		Wilson	X
	Lisa Gezelter	Windholz	X
		Hamner	X
		Pettersen	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
SB15-214 SB15-257 SB15-281 SB15-257 SB15-117 SJM15-001		Amended, Referred to Appropriations Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Referred to the Committee of the Whole Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole Postponed Indefinitely Referred to the Committee of the Whole

01:33 PM -- SB15-214

Representative Pettersen, chair, welcomed the committee. Representative Duran, co-sponsor, presented Senate Bill 15-214, which establishes a legislative committee on school safety. Speaker Hullinghorst, co-sponsor, spoke about the make-up of the committee.

01:36 PM

The following people testified:

01:36 PM -- Moe Keller, Vice President of Public Policy for Mental Health America, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about the make-up of the task force and encouraged the committee to add youth representatives, parent representatives, and a mental health professional working in a mental health center. She thanked the sponsors for bringing the bill. She encouraged the committee to consider suicide as a safety threat in schools. Ms. Keller responded to questions from the committee.

01:42 PM -- Shannon Kartheiser, representing the Colorado Society of School Psychologists, read a statement from Julie Bolding, president of the organization. She spoke about changes the Senate made to the bill and about the involvement of school psychologists. She proposed adding a licensed school psychologist to the task force.

01:45 PM -- John Simmons, representing Safe School Partners, spoke about the bill. He urged the committee to merge the provisions of the bill and Senate Bill 15-213. He spoke about liability. He distributed a handout to the committee (Attachment A). Mr. Simmons responded to questions from the committee.

15HouseEd0504AttachA.pdf

01:49 PM -- Daniel Intolubbe-Chmil, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He discussed amendments to the bill and responded to questions from the committee.

01:51 PM -- Sarah Garrido, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill and certain amendments. She spoke about the need to add members with school safety expertise to the committee. She spoke about standards of care and about threat assessments. She spoke about violent attacks in schools and how best to prevent them. She spoke about school security. Ms. Garrido responded to questions from the committee.

02:00 PM -- Carol Meredith, representing the Arc of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties, spoke in favor of amending the bill to ensure that disabled students' rights are respected.

02:01 PM -- Marijo Rymer, representing the Arc of Colorado, spoke in support of the bill as it was amended in the Senate. She spoke about students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She spoke about threat assessment and possible isolation and segregation of disabled students.

02:03 PM -- David Olson, representing the Colorado school district self insurance pool, spoke in support of the bill and the proposed amendments. He spoke about his organization and its member districts. He discussed the provisions of amendment L.011 (Attachment B). Mr. Olson responded to questions from the committee.

15HouseEd0504AttachB.pdf

02:06 PM -- Dawn Loge-Greer, representing the Consortium of Directors of Special Education, spoke in support of the bill. She described the consortium and the reasons why it supports the bill. She expressed hope that a special educator would be added to the task force and urged formal opportunities for continuing stakeholder engagement. She spoke about how students with disabilities are often the subject of threat assessment and how these students would face increased discrimination due to schools' liability concerns.

02:08 PM -- Susan Payne, director of Safe2Tell, spoke in support of the bill. She described her organization's ability to intervene in school safety situations. Ms. Payne responded to questions from the committee.

02:14 PM -- John McDonald, Executive Director of Security for Jefferson County Schools, spoke in support of the bill. He spoke about the need for experts in law enforcement and school crisis management to be included in the task force. Mr. McDonald responded to questions from the committee.

02:21 PM -- David Banke, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He described his personal experiences as a teacher and a shooting at Deer Creek Middle School in 2010. He spoke about the need for subject matter experts to have a place on the task force.

02:24 PM -- Frank DeAngelis, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He spoke about his experiences at Columbine High School. He spoke about his support for amending the bill and about his experiences consulting in the aftermath of school shootings across the country.

02:27 PM -- Michael Eaton, Chief of Safety and Security for Denver Public Schools, spoke about the bill. He described his work and his experiences as a parent of two children at Arapahoe High School. He spoke about his work with other safety and security directors to develop best practices relating to school safety. He spoke about the work occurring nationally and his concerns that nobody in school security is included on the task force.

02:29 PM -- Brian Krause, Director of Mental Health for Jefferson County Public Schools and former principal of Platte Canyon High School during a school shooting, spoke in support of the bill. He spoke about his work on crisis response and mental health in Jefferson County. He spoke about threat assessments and suicide risk assessments. He spoke about the need for ongoing mental health support and support for those affected by the tragedies. He spoke in support of amending the bill.

02:31 PM -- Pat Hamilton, Executive Director of Operations for Adams 12 Five Star Schools, spoke in support of the bill. He spoke about his support for the goals of the bill and urged the committee to amend the bill to include a subject matter expert on the task force.

02:32 PM -- Cynthia Coffman, Attorney General of Colorado, spoke in support of the bill. She spoke about the idea of legislating school safety. She described the complexities of the issue of school safety. She spoke about the membership of the committee and about why amendments should be required to add members to the committee. Attorney General Coffman responded to questions from the committee.

02:42 PM -- Michael Davis, representing himself, spoke in support of the bill. He described his personal experiences when his daughter, Clare, was killed at Arapahoe High School. He described the shooter's plans, his arms, and ammunition. He said that the school had conducted a threat assessment on the shooter after he threatened a teacher. He spoke about the lack of follow-up on the threat assessment and the lack of clarity surrounding what counseling had been offered to the student. He spoke about the need to support kids in crisis, the need for better tools, and better monitoring. He spoke about the need for the legislative committee and how it could help make Colorado schools among the safest in the country. He posited that subcommittees will give the committee the authority to pull in experts as needed.

02:46 PM -- Sophia San Miguel, representing herself, spoke in support of the bill. She described her personal experiences.

02:48 PM

Majority Leader Duran described amendments L.011 and L.016 (Attachments B and C).


BILL:	SB15-214
TIME:	02:50:49 PM
MOVED:	Garnett
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.016 (Attachment C). The motion passed on a vote of 10-1. 15HouseEd0504AttachC.pdf
SECONDED:	Hamner
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

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


BILL:	SB15-214
TIME:	02:51:14 PM
MOVED:	Priola
MOTION:	substitute Adopt amendment L.012 (Attachment D). The motion failed on a 5-5 vote. 15HouseEd0504AttachD.pdf
SECONDED:	Lundeen
		VOTE
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Excused
	Garnett	No
	Lee	No
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	No
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	No
	Pettersen	No

YES: 5 NO: 5 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE


BILL:	SB15-214
TIME:	03:04:29 PM
MOVED:	Garnett
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.011 (Attachment B). The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:	Hamner
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

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

03:06 PM

Majority Leader Duran and Speaker Hullinghorst offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB15-214
TIME:	03:06:40 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-214, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:	Lee
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

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

03:08 PM -- SB15-281

Representative Kraft-Tharp, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 15-281, which requires that the institute charter school hold a public meeting to review the school's proposed school priority improvement plan or school turnaround plan prior to the plan's final adoption. The Charter School Institute (CSI) is required to ensure that the institute charter school complies with the meeting requirements. Representative Kraft-Tharp responded to questions from the committee.

03:10 PM

The following people testified about the bill:

03:10 PM -- Jeani Frickey Saito, representing the CSI, spoke in support of the bill. Ms. Frickey responded to questions from the committee.

03:11 PM

Represetnative Kraft-Tharp offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB15-281
TIME:	03:11:53 PM
MOVED:	Moreno
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-281 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0, with two members excused.
SECONDED:	Everett
		VOTE
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Excused
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	SB15-281
TIME:	03:11:53 PM
MOVED:	Moreno
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-281 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0, with two members excused.
SECONDED:	Everett
		VOTE
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Excused
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Excused
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

03:12 PM -- SB15-257

Representatives Hamner and Wilson, co-sponsors, presented Senate Bill 15-257, which alters the statewide standardized assessment system. Representative Hamner distributed Amendment L.036 and an unofficial preamended version of the bill (Attachments E and F). She spoke about stakeholder input. Representative Wilson discussed the need to lower the number of assessments in Colorado. Representative Hamner went over the provisions of amendment L.036 (Attachment E). She said that districts will be able to use paper and pencil to administer the tests. She spoke about the scope of testing and described the amendment's provisions. She discussed a pilot program and spoke about the debate over including ninth grade in the standardized assessments and how the federal government does not include ninth grade as part of high school. She explained that the state now offers ACT to eleventh graders and that the amendment includes a provision authorizing the use of the ACT Aspire to fulfill tenth grade requirements. She explained that the state will submit a waiver request to the federal government to include ninth grade as part of high school. She spoke about teacher and principal evaluations and how test scores will be used. She spoke about English language learners being able to take test in their native languages and stated that these students' test scores would not be counted in district results for the first two years. Representatives Wilson and Hamner responded to questions from the committee.

15HouseEd0504AttachE.pdf

15HouseEd0504AttachF.pdf

03:37 PM

The co-sponsors continued responding to questions from the committee.

03:52 PM -- Julie Pelegrin, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee.

03:54 PM

The following people testified:

03:54 PM -- Jen Walmer, representing Democrats for Education Reform, spoke about the bill. She listed her areas of concern: the pilot program for new assessments; ceding decision-making to the State Board of Education regarding accreditation system and accountability; and the lack of no-harm opt-out language for students who opt out and for those who choose to participate. Ms. Walmer responded to questions from the committee.

03:59 PM -- Luke Ragland, representing Colorado Succeeds, spoke about the bill. He discussed the need to reduce testing but not abandon accountability. He spoke about the pilot program in amendment L.036 and the need for compliance with federal law. He spoke about the opt-out provisions and the data provisions of the bill. Mr. Ragland responded to questions from the committee.

04:15 PM -- Kerrie Dallman, representing the Colorado Education Association, spoke about the bill. She spoke about voter sentiment and polls, and teacher appreciation week. She urged the committee to make the tenth grade ACT-Aspire test optional for districts. She asked to remove penalties for schools, districts, and teachers when parents choose to opt students out. She spoke about voters wanting substantive change. Ms. Dallman responded to questions from the committee.

04:23 PM -- Chelsea Henkel, representing Stand for Children Colorado, spoke about the bill. She discussed comparability and voiced her organization's concerns with the pilot program. Ms. Henkel responded to questions from the committee.

04:31 PM -- Bill Jaeger, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, spoke about the bill. He discussed the inclusion of the ninth grade assessment. He encouraged adding guardrails to the pilot program. Mr. Jaeger responded to questions from the committee.

04:45 PM -- Terry Whitney, representing the College Board, spoke in opposition to replacing the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments with ACT-Aspire. He urged the committee to allow districts some flexibility, or to direct the State Board of Education to do a Request for Proposals.

04:47 PM -- Paula Noonan, representing Parents Coalition on School Assessments, spoke in support of amending the bill. She described parents' concerns and objections to the current testing regimen.

04:55 PM -- Lisa Escarcega, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives, spoke about the bill. She expressed her thanks that a bill still lives. She spoke about the parts of the bill her organization supports.

04:58 PM -- Jess Loban, representing himself, spoke about the bill. He spoke about the need to reduce the amount of standardized testing. Mr. Loban responded to questions from the committee.

05:04 PM -- George Walker, representing himself, spoke about the bill.

05:08 PM

Representative Hamner discussed the provisions of L.036 (Attachment E). Julie Pelegrin, representing the Office of Legislative Legal Services, came to the table to respond to questions from the committee.


BILL:	SB15-257
TIME:	05:09:06 PM
MOVED:	Garnett
MOTION:	Adopt amendment L.036 (Attachment E). The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Hamner
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	No
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:20 PM

Representatives Hamner and Wilson offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB15-257
TIME:	05:20:59 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-257, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 9-2.
SECONDED:	Wilson
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	No
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:31 PM -- SB15-117

Representative Joshi, sponsor, presented Senate Bill 15-117, which prohibits the General Assembly or the Colorado Commission on Higher Education from distributing funding based on students' race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy. Representative Joshi responded to questions from the committee.

05:34 PM

The following people testified about the bill:

05:34 PM -- Kachina Weaver, representing the Department of Higher Education, spoke in opposition to the bill. She spoke about data and the state's new funding allocation model. She distributed two handouts (Attachments G and H).

15HouseEd0504AttachG.pdf

15HouseEd0504AttachH .pdf

05:36 PM -- Frank Waterous, representing the Bell Policy Center, spoke in opposition to the bill. He spoke about the provisions of the bill and how best to close attainment gaps.

05:38 PM -- Luis Torres, representing the Colorado Latino Leadership, Advocacy, and Research Organization (CLLARO), spoke in opposition to the bill. He discussed unintended consequences and achievement gaps.

05:40 PM -- Christian Caldwell, representing The Brotherhood, spoke in opposition to the bill. He discussed achievement gaps.

05:41 PM

Representative Joshi offered closing comments to the bill.


BILL:	SB15-117
TIME:	05:42:16 PM
MOVED:	Everett
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 15-117 to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a vote of 4-7.
SECONDED:	Lundeen
		VOTE
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	No
	Garnett	No
	Lee	No
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	No
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	No
	Hamner	No
	Pettersen	No

YES: 4 NO: 7 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:	SB15-117
TIME:	05:43:03 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Postpone Senate Bill 15-117 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 7-4.
SECONDED:	Lee
		VOTE
	Everett	No
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	No
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	No
	Wilson	No
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:44 PM -- SJM15-001

Representative Rankin, sponsor, presented Senate Joint Memorial 15-001, which urges Congress to assist Colorado in funding Fort Lewis College. He spoke about the costs incurred by the state.


BILL:	SJM15-001
TIME:	05:45:53 PM
MOVED:	Hamner
MOTION:	Refer SJM15-001 to the Full House. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Garnett
		VOTE
	Everett	Yes
	Fields	Yes
	Garnett	Yes
	Lee	Yes
	Lundeen	Yes
	Moreno	Yes
	Priola	Yes
	Wilson	Yes
	Windholz	Yes
	Hamner	Yes
	Pettersen	Yes

Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:46 PM

The committee adjourned.