Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Date:02/21/2006
ATTENDANCE
Time:10:25 AM to 01:17 PM
Benefield
X
King
X
Place:HCR 0107
Larson
X
Massey
X
This Meeting was called to order by
McKinley
X
Representative Merrifield
Penry
X
Pommer
*
This Report was prepared by
Rose
X
Cathy Eslinger
Solano
*
Todd
X
White
X
Paccione
X
Merrifield
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed: Action Taken:
HB06-1261
HB06-1263
HB06-1289
HB06-1270		Postponed Indefinitely
Postponed Indefinitely
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Amended, Referred to Appropriations


10:26 AM -- House Bill 06-1261

The meeting was called to order by the chairman, Representative Merrifield.



10:26 AM

Representative McCluskey, prime sponsor, stated that he wished to have additional time to consider the issues in House Bill 06-1261, concerning recodification of statutes for the Colorado State University system. Representative McCluskey requested that House Bill 06-1261 be postponed indefinitely.
BILL:HB06-1261
TIME: 10:27:05 AM
MOVED:White
MOTION:Moved to postpone indefinitely HB06-1261. The motion passed on an 11-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Rose
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Yes
Massey
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Excused
Rose
Yes
Solano
Excused
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 2 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:27 AM -- House Bill 06-1263

Representative Welker, prime sponsor, reviewed the provisions of House Bill 06-1263, concerning requiring school districts to report to the Department of Education lawsuits that involve the "Teacher and School Administrator Protection Act." He discussed his reasons for bringing the legislation.

10:30 AM

The following persons testified:

10:30 AM -- Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in opposition to the bill. He indicated that school districts are currently required to report a great deal of data, and said that CASE feels this bill is unnecessary. He responded to questions about school districts reporting safety information. Representative Pommer commented on the number of reports currently required of school districts.

10:33 AM -- Mary Sharon Wells, representing the Jefferson County School Board, testified in opposition to the bill and indicated that the board had taken an official position against the bill. She said that information on the final disposition of lawsuits is already a matter of public record.

10:35 AM -- Greg Romberg, representing the Colorado Press Association and Colorado Broadcasters' Association, testified in support of the bill. He said that both associations supported greater openness and access to records. He responded to questions from committee members.


10:37 AM

Representative Welker responded to additional questions regarding the difficulties he described in gathering information on lawsuits concerning school personnel. Committee discussion continued on the reporting done by the judiciary on the filing and disposition of lawsuits.
BILL:HB06-1263
TIME: 10:40:46 AM
MOVED:Larson
MOTION:Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Rose
VOTE
Benefield
King
Larson
Massey
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection



10:42 PM

Representative Welker responded to final questions about the bill. Committee members offered comments on their positions on the bill.
BILL:HB06-1263
TIME: 10:54:24 AM
MOVED:King
MOTION:Moved to refer HB 06-1263, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion failed on a 2-11 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Penry
VOTE
Benefield
No
King
Yes
Larson
No
Massey
No
McKinley
No
Penry
Yes
Pommer
No
Rose
No
Solano
No
Todd
No
White
No
Paccione
No
Merrifield
No
Not Final YES: 2 NO: 11 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL
BILL:HB06-1263
TIME: 10:55:42 AM
MOVED:Paccione
MOTION:Moved to postpone indefinitely HB06-1263. The motion passed on an 11-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Pommer
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
King
No
Larson
Yes
Massey
No
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES: 11 NO: 2 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

10:56 AM -- House Bill 06-1289

Representative Solano, prime sponsor, reviewed the provisions of House Bill 06-1289, concerning eliminating penalties arising from a parent's choice regarding student participation in statewide assessments. She discussed her reasons for bringing the bill.

10:59 AM

The following persons testified:

11:01 AM -- Mike Paskewicz, Superintendent of Adams 12 Five Star Schools, testified in favor of the bill. Stan Hesting, also representing Adams Five Star Schools, joined Dr. Paskewicz at the table. Dr. Hesting discussed the impact of non-student participation or absences from the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) assessments on the School Accountability Reports (SARs).

11:05 AM

Dr. Paskewicz and Dr. Hesting responded to questions about whether school districts are penalizing students for not participating in the CSAP assessments. Representative King raised his concerns with the section of the bill addressing penalties for students. There was additional discussion concerning the provisions of the bill. Representative Penry discussed his perceptions of the bill and discussed the ramifications of large numbers of students opting out of the assessments. Representative Paccione said that the bill would remove the penalties that schools incur when students do not participate in the assessments. They provided a hand-out (Attachment B).



11:13 AM

Dr. Paskewicz and Dr. Hesting responded to further questions about whether they would support imposing penalties on students. They indicated that they would not support implementing penalties on students and that they are not suggesting that they do not want to be accountable for students. They also answered questions regarding the number of students who have opted out of assessments in Adams 12 Five Star School District. There was discussion of the numeric calculation for students who do not participate in an assessment.

11:21 AM -- Christine von Lersner, representing herself as a parent with students in Denver Public Schools, testified in support of the bill. She discussed her perceptions of the CSAP assessments. Ms. von Lersner further discussed her support of self-paced learning and nontraditional models for student assessment.

11:30 AM -- Phil Fox, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE), testified in support of the bill. He testified that the number of students who opt out varies among school districts and schools. He said that CASE believes that no one should be penalized for the exercise of parental choice.

11:31 AM -- Bill Bowlby, representing himself as a parent of students in Durango schools, testified in support of the bill. He distinguished between "testing to monitor" and "testing to teach." He testified that schools are confusing testing with measuring learning or instructional quality. He described his experience in deciding whether to opt his children out of CSAP assessments.

11:40 AM

Mr. Bowlby responded to questions from committee members about his opinions on assessments.

11:43 AM -- Lyndsey Barnett, representing herself as a teacher in Adams 12 Five Star School District, testified in support of the bill. She described the impact of CSAP scores on the school at which she teaches. She responded to questions about the impact of student mobility on the school.

11:46 AM -- Lisa Kramer, representing herself as a parent, testified in support of the bill. She described her son's learning disabilities and her decisions regarding testing him.

11:52 AM -- Tom Griggs, representing himself as a parent, testified in support of the bill. As a professor of education, he offered his opinions about student learning and achievement, as well as about assessment of students.

11:56 AM -- Frank Young, representing himself as a parent and a Denver Public Schools teacher and the Coalition for Better Education, testified in support of the bill. He testified to the community concerns he has heard around CSAP assessments.

12:01 PM -- Dan Daly, representing the Colorado Education Association, testified in support of the bill. He testified that penalizing schools for factors beyond the control of the school does not serve schools.



12:03 PM -- Sid O'Connell, representing herself, testified in favor of the bill. She described her experiences as a parent and her support of experiential learning.

12:09 PM -- Angela Engel, representing herself, testified in favor of the bill. She discussed the importance of parental choice in education and testified against penalizing schools for nonparticipating students. She described experiences of her acquaintances in considering opting their children out of assessments. She responded to questions about her testimony concerning school district policies.

12:19 PM -- Vicki Newell, representing the Colorado Parent-Teacher Association, testified in support of the bill. She responded to questions from committee members.

12:26 PM -- Byron Pendley, representing the Colorado Department of Education, testified on the bill and offered information on the number of tests that were categorized as "parental refusal" for the past school year, which is estimated at 1,500 tests, or about .03 percent statewide.

12:32 PM

The committee discussed statutory provisions for placing students in a category for which an "unsatisfactory" score is given.
BILL:HB06-1289
TIME: 12:37:16 PM
MOVED:Solano
MOTION:Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Paccione
VOTE
Benefield
King
Larson
Massey
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1289
TIME: 12:40:51 PM
MOVED:Solano
MOTION:Moved to refer HB06-1289, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 10-3 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Paccione
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
King
No
Larson
Yes
Massey
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
No
Pommer
Yes
Rose
No
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES: 10 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:43 PM -- House Bill 06-1270

Representative Merrifield, prime sponsor, reviewed the provisions of House Bill 06-1270, concerning the authority of public school personnel to make determinations of eligibility for certain public medical benefits. He stated that the bill would initiate three pilot sites. He distributed a hand-out on a proposed amendment L.004 (Attachments D and E).

12:44 PM

The following persons testified:

12:45 PM -- Christy Blakely, representing Family Voices of Colorado, testified in favor of the bill. She distributed a hand-out (Attachment F). She testified on behalf of several collaborative partners, including the Autism Society of Colorado and the Colorado Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics.



12:46 PM -- Dr. Steve Federico, representing the Colorado American Academy of Pediatrics, testified in support of the bill. He said that the pilot program would offer valuable information.

12:49 PM -- Connie Garcia, representing the Colorado School Medicaid Consortium, testified in support of the bill. She described the student health needs that may be met through the Children's Basic Health Plan (CBHP) and Medicaid and said that the bill would help streamline services. She distributed a hand-out (Attachment G).

12:53 PM -- Bruce Atchison, representing the Colorado Children's Campaign, testified in support of the bill and discussed the importance of school readiness. He responded to questions about state and federal funds to be used in implementing the bill.

12:59 PM -- Lisa Esgar, representing the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, came to the table to respond to questions regarding funding for the programs. She clarified questions regarding administrative costs and administrative claiming authorized in law.

01:06 PM -- Ms. Blakely returned to the table to discuss the bill and to respond to further committee discussion.
BILL:HB06-1270
TIME: 01:10:29 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Moved amendment L.004 (Attachment D). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Benefield
VOTE
Benefield
King
Larson
Massey
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
Excused
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1270
TIME: 01:12:07 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Page 3, line 19, strike "JUNE 1, 2006," and substitute "SEPTEMBER 1, 2006,". The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Larson
VOTE
Benefield
King
Larson
Massey
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Solano
Todd
Excused
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection
BILL:HB06-1270
TIME: 01:12:52 PM
MOVED:Merrifield
MOTION:Refer HB06-1270, as amended, to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a 13-0 roll call vote.
SECONDED:Paccione
VOTE
Benefield
Yes
King
Yes
Larson
Yes
Massey
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Yes
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


01:17 PM

The committee adjourned.