Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
HOUSE
COMMITTEE ON
EDUCATION
Date:
02/22/2005
ATTENDANCE
Time:
10:40 AM
to
01:18 PM
Balmer
X
Benefield
X
Place:
HCR 0107
King
X
Larson
X
This Meeting was called to order by
McKinley
X
Representative
Merrifield
Penry
*
Pommer
X
This Report was prepared by
Rose
E
Cathy Eslinger
Solano
X
Todd
X
White
X
Paccione
X
Merrifield
X
X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call
Bills Addressed:
Action Taken:
HB05-1246
HB05-1248
Amended, Referred to the Committee of the Whole
Witness Testimony Only
10:41 AM -- Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by the chairman, Representative Merrifield.
10:41 AM -- House Bill 05-1246
Representative Solano reviewed the provisions of House Bill 05-1246, concerning assessments for students with individual educational programs. The bill addresses students with an individual educational program (IEP) whose scores are not used to calculate academic performance ratings and provides that no more than one percent of the students in a school district may take the CSAP-A and that no more than one percent
of students in a district take an alternative assessment approved by the State Board of Education.
10:46 AM
Jerry Barry, Office of Legislative Legal Services, was asked to come to the table to respond to questions about state and federal requirements. Mr. Barry responded to questions posed by Representative King about federal requirements for students who have IEPs and must be assessed. Representative Paccione discussed provisions and regulations being promulgated under the "No Child Left Behind Act."
10:51 AM
The following persons testified:
10:51 AM --
Lorrie Harkness, Director of Exceptional Student Services, Colorado Department of Education (CDE) stated that at least 95 percent of students must be assessed under the "No Child Left Behind Act." Up to one percent of students taking an alternative assessment may be reported as "proficient" for purposes of state reporting under the "No Child Left Behind Act." She said that approximately one percent of students in the state take the CSAP-A, but that the state did not exceed that percentage. Committee discussion continued on the federal requirements.
10:55 AM
Representative Solano responded to the committee discussion and discussed students who are not taking the CSAP-A but for whom the regular assessments are not appropriate. She asked that witness testimony proceed to clarify the issues around assessment of exceptional students.
10:57 AM --
Ed Steinberg, representing the Cherry Creek School District and the metro area and the statewide consortium of special education services, testified in favor of the bill. He spoke about the goals and intent of "No Child Left Behind Act." He discussed the "gap students" whose cognitive abilities are beyond the CSAP-A assessments. Mr. Steinberg responded to questions from committee members and said that some states have looked at tracking progress over time for "gap students."
11:03 AM
Mr. Steinberg continued responding to questions about special education students taking assessments in Cherry Creek School District. He said that the district is not close to the one percent cap on students taking an alternative assessment.
11:08 AM --
Michele Hibel, representing herself as a special education teacher in the St. Vrain School District, discussed students who take the regular assessments with accommodations. She testified in favor of the bill and said that about one percent of students in the district take the CSAP-A. She discussed the challenges of getting reliable and useful data on the achievement of exceptional students. She responded to questions regarding how House Bill 05-1246 might impact her district. She said that taking the CSAP-A and taking a standard assessment are very different and not comparable.
11:16 AM --
Ms. Hibel responded to questions about what students are required to do on the CSAP-A and indicated that it is a one-on-one assessment. She described specific examples concerning her students with cognitive disabilities. She also responded to questions about students who take the standard assessments with accommodations.
11:21 AM --
Bruce Dixon, representing himself as a retired special education teacher from the St. Vrain School District, testified in favor of the bill. He discussed children he had worked with who struggled when faced with an assessment that is inappropriate. He responded to questions about how the bill may assist teachers and school districts.
11:27 AM --
Ed Casteel, representing himself as a parent of an exceptional student, testified in favor of the bill. He said that neither the CSAP-A nor the standard CSAP assessments is appropriate for his son. He said that there was not an assessment for his child that provided him with the information he would like. He responded to questions from committee members.
11:30 AM --
Laurie Seville, representing herself as a special education teacher, testified on the issues in the bill. She spoke about the impact of the assessments on a school and ultimately on a school district. She discussed the emotional component of the assessments for special education students.
11:34 AM
Ms. Harkness returned to the table to respond to additional questions. She responded to questions about whether a student with an IEP could take a CSAP assessment at a different grade level. She indicated that it would not be an approved accommodations under the "No Child Left Behind Act." There was additional committee discussion about federal requirements for the assessment of special education students. Ms. Harkness spoke about the fact that the CSAP assessments are meant to measure how students are meeting Colorado content standards.
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:42:41 AM
MOVED:
Solano
MOTION:
Moved amendment L.002 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Paccione
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Excused
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
2
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:43:47 AM
MOVED:
Merrifield
MOTION:
Moved amendment .003 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
Paccione
VOTE
Balmer
Benefield
King
Larson
McKinley
Penry
Pommer
Rose
Excused
Solano
Todd
White
Paccione
Merrifield
Not Final YES:
0
NO:
0
EXC:
1
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
Pass Without Objection
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:45:29 AM
MOVED:
King
MOTION:
Moved amendment L.001 (Attachment C). The motion failed on a 2-8-3 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Larson
VOTE
Balmer
Excused
Benefield
No
King
Yes
Larson
No
McKinley
No
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Excused
Rose
Excused
Solano
No
Todd
No
White
No
Paccione
No
Merrifield
No
Not Final YES:
2
NO:
8
EXC:
3
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
FAIL
11:49 AM
Committee discussion on the bill continued. Representative King discussed the potential impact on the State Education Fund. Representative Solano responded to questions regarding the fiscal note and the potential need for new assessments.
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:53:19 AM
MOVED:
King
MOTION:
Moved to amend page 7, strike lines 13-20. The motion failed on a 3-8-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Penry
VOTE
Balmer
Excused
Benefield
No
King
Yes
Larson
No
McKinley
No
Penry
Yes
Pommer
No
Rose
Excused
Solano
No
Todd
No
White
Yes
Paccione
No
Merrifield
No
Not Final YES:
3
NO:
8
EXC:
2
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
FAIL
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:56:16 AM
MOVED:
Penry
MOTION:
Moved a conceptual amendment, Page 6, after line 7, insert "(III) TWO MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY.". The motion failed on a 4-7-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
King
VOTE
Balmer
Excused
Benefield
No
King
Yes
Larson
Yes
McKinley
No
Penry
Yes
Pommer
No
Rose
Excused
Solano
No
Todd
No
White
Yes
Paccione
No
Merrifield
No
Not Final YES:
4
NO:
7
EXC:
2
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
FAIL
BILL:
HB05-1246
TIME:
11:58:48 AM
MOVED:
Solano
MOTION:
Moved to refer House Bill 05-1246, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole. The motion passed on a 10-1-2 roll call vote.
SECONDED:
Paccione
VOTE
Balmer
Excused
Benefield
Yes
King
No
Larson
Yes
McKinley
Yes
Penry
Yes
Pommer
Yes
Rose
Excused
Solano
Yes
Todd
Yes
White
Yes
Paccione
Yes
Merrifield
Yes
Final YES:
10
NO:
1
EXC:
2
ABS:
0
FINAL ACTION:
PASS
11:59 AM -- House Bill 05-1248
Representative King reviewed the provisions of House Bill 05-1248, concerning public school improvement. He discussed his reasons for bringing the bill and the interested parties he had worked with in developing the concepts in the bill. He noted that the provisions in the bill were voluntary for school districts. He discussed the potential for new accreditation contracts under the bill and the potential for increased responsibilities at the school level.
12:06 PM
Representative Merrifield announced that the committee would not vote on the bill at this meeting and would lay the bill over for action. Representative King responded to questions about whether school districts could take the actions described in the bill currently. He responded to additional questions about provisions concerning school funding for instructional supplies and materials and for the capital reserve or management of risk-related activities in the bill.
12:09 PM
The following persons testified:
12:09 PM --
John Carbula, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives and a principal in Poudre School District, testified in opposition to the bill. He spoke about the ideas that have been discussed in developing the bill and described reforms and ideas that have been put in place at his school. He spoke about the impact of federal legislation and mandates on school district.
12:12 PM
Mr. Carbula responded to questions and testified that the bill would negatively impact high school principals. In describing his experiences, Mr. Carbula said that he feels the legislation is unnecessary.
12:16 PM --
John Hefty, representing the Colorado Association of School Executives said that his organization has been studying the concepts in the bill for several months. He testified in opposition to the bill and said that he feared that the fabric of school districts could be eroded under the provisions of the bill. He discussed the need for coherence and alignment of schools in a school district. He referred to research on school district reform.
12:20 PM
Representative King responded to Mr. Hefty's testimony and discussed issues of school funding that could be addressed in the bill. Representative King discussed the example of a Canadian school district in Edmonton he had been studying.
12:24 PM --
Tony Salazar, representing the Colorado Education Association (CEA), testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Salazar discussed the reasons that CEA would be opposing the bill and said that CEA had contacted teacher organizations in other areas where greater decentralization has taken place.
12:29 PM --
Phuonglan Nguyen, representing Metro Organizations for People (MOP) as a member of the Board of Directors, testified in support of the bill. She provided background on recent reform efforts undertaken or supported by MOP in Denver. She discussed the reasons that MOP would be supporting the bill and described how reform must address the unique needs of schools. Her testimony included a reminder to the committee that the bill's provisions were voluntary.
She distributed four hand-outs (Attachments D through G).
12:35 PM
Representative King responded to questions about how the bill may impact school districts that are undertaking reforms currently. Ms. Nguyen made additional comments based on questions from committee members.
12:38 PM --
Sanice Young, also representing MOP, testified in favor of the bill. She discussed her concerns with state achievement and funding levels.
12:39 PM --
Shelly Travis, also representing MOP and a parent of Denver Public Schools (DPS) graduates, testified in favor of the bill . She discussed her concerns about
achievement in the school district.
12:42 PM
Representative Pommer made comments based on Ms. Travis' testimony. Ms. Travis discussed her support for the bill and how it might assist schools in Denver Public Schools.
12:45 PM --
Jeremy Simons, representing himself as part of the Cole Middle School community, testified in favor of the bill. He said that there needs to be more community collaboration in school reform. He responded to questions from committee members.
12:50 PM
Representative King described how he hopes that the provisions in the bill could assist in closing the achievement gap. Representative Pommer discussed the demographics and examples of schools in the Boulder Valley School District. Mr. Simons made additional comments on students he has worked with at Cole Middle School. There was discussion of current at-risk funding requirements.
12:54 PM --
Linda Wurst, representing herself as a Denver Public School teacher, testified in favor of the bill. She responded to some of the earlier testimony and committee discussion. She said that her principal has been hampered by administrative bureaucracy in Denver Public Schools and described her concerns about achievement in her district.
12:58 PM
Representative Pommer responded to Ms. Wurst's testimony and said he was concerned that the only testimony in favor of the bill had come from representatives of DPS. Ms. Wurst made further comments on her experiences as a teacher and parent.
01:05 PM
Representative Paccione discussed her experience in the Cherry Creek School District and voiced the opinion that many school district reforms could be undertaken without the legislation. She discussed the impact of federal legislation and federal funding. Ms. Wurst discussed the potential for the role of executive leadership in schools.
01:13 PM
Representative Todd discussed her experiences as a teacher and thanked the witnesses for their testimony and their support of public education.
01:14 PM
Ms. Nguyen returned to the table and clarified her position and views on the bill. She also discussed the positions of MOP on school reform issues. Representative King responded to questions about his views on the bill and the voluntary nature of the bill.
01:18 PM
The bill was laid over for action until the committee's meeting on Thursday, February 24.
01:18 PM
The meeting was adjourned.