To be eligible for this new tuition rate, a student must attend three or more years of high school in Colorado and graduate or obtain a GED. The student will have to be accepted at one of Colorado’s institutions of higher learning within 12 months after graduating/earning a GED.

CEA is working in a broad coalition with other education groups to support the bill. Last year the University of Colorado Board of Regents did not support the bill. A recent Boulder Daily Camera story said the Regents might favor the bill this year.

For CEA, SB 15 means that more students will go to college and our state’s higher ed institutions will get more tuition revenue. 

Proposed by the Legislature’s Educational Success Task Force, the bill’s sponsors are Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs) and Sen. Keith King (R-Colorado Springs). HB 1072 requires Colorado’s Higher Education Commission (CCHE) to develop criteria for awarding credit to a college student who has “prior learning” through work experience, military service, community involvement, or independent study — prior learning acquired after high school as an adult. If the Legislature approves the bill, CCHE would do the prep work so the program could go into effect for the 2013-14 academic  year.

The bill is premised on the idea that adult learners, mobile learners, and nontraditional students are likely to come to college with learning acquired outside of traditional classrooms. They have acquired their learning from noncredit programs, corporate training, time spent in the military, volunteering, community workshops, and many other kinds of activities.

Often these students  come to college and are required to pay tuition for courses in things they already know — and they consider it a waste of their time and their money.

HB 1072 calls for Prior Learning Assessments to be used to measure what a college student has learned outside of college by evaluating whether that learning is college level and how many college credits it is worth.

The bill will start tomorrow in the House Education Committee. If the House Ed Committee passes the bill, it goes to the House Appropriations Committee and then to the full House for a vote before it goes over to the Senate for consideration.

Crazy idea? Practical idea? What do you think?

In the past couple of Januaries, school districts faced funding rescissions: the Legislature asked them to give money back. But because the state’s December 2011 revenue forecast was more positive than earlier forecasts, the state is able to restore a little FY 11-12 funding to help districts pay for increased student enrollment, including more students considered at-risk and in need of more school services.

The last revenue forecast revealed several positives. Economic activity in Colorado during the fall months was better than expected and there was stronger job growth, resulting in more state revenue than anticipated.

We remind ourselves not to get too carried away, as Colorado is still in a modest recovery from the recession. But we know all too well that our public schools need not only budget relief, but long term, adequate, sustainable funding – our K-12 system is about $1 billion behind the level of funding Coloradans approved in Amendment 23 in 2000.

We won’t let up on the drumbeat for school funding. When the Lobato decision was released in mid-December, we asked Colorado’s elected officials to muster every effort to lead on the school funding issue with integrity and intensity – and CEA called on them to make no additional cuts to state education funding; add no more mandates; pursue short-term legislative initiatives that will help; and work with us and other education partners to find a tax solution for the future of Colorado, our students, and their families.

Even tomorrow’s $20M supplemental funding will help.

Colorado ASSET creates a third category of state college/university tuition called standard-rate tuition. To be eligible for this rate, a student must attend three or more years of high school in Colorado and graduate or obtain a GED. The student will have to be accepted at one of Colorado’s institutions of higher learning within 12 months after graduating/earning a GED.

In speaking about the bill, Sen. Giron said she knows it is the right thing to do, and it’s also the economically smart thing to do to ensure that Colorado’s economy has a foundation of educated and diverse workers.

We are especially cognizant of higher education budget cuts and think that ASSET makes sense because it adds much-needed tuition revenue to the state’s financially strapped schools, potentially as much as hundreds of thousands of additional tuition dollars.

An interesting aspect of the bill is that ASSET students wouldn’t be eligible for state or federal financial aid – so no taxpayer dollars would be used for the program. Plus higher education institutions can opt out of creating the standard-rate tuition category.

You can get more information about Colorado ASSET at the Colorado Higher Education Access Alliance (HEAA).

For the uninitiated, the Colorado Legislature meets for 120 weekdays. There are 100 legislators: 65 members of the House (“State Representatives”) and 35 members of the Senate (“State Senators”). We have a great link on our web site that shows how a bill is passed.

It is likely CEA members will get involved in at least four major legislative issues: school funding; rules for the implementation of Senate Bill 191 on educator effectiveness and the evaluation of teachers and principals; early childhood literacy; and innovation schools.

In November, Governor John Hickenlooper released his budget proposal for the 2012-13 school year: an $89 million reduction in K-12 funding, about $160 per student. This new cut would put school funding $1.1 billion behind where we should be, according to Amendment 23. While the Governor’s proposed $89M cut is smaller than predicted, it would have a huge negative impact in 178 districts. On the positive side, if state revenues rise because tax collections increase, the $89 million could become less of a cut to schools.

We will be working with many education stakeholders on literacy and the third-grade reading statute, the Colorado Basic Literacy Act. The law has not been updated since 1997. As we work on literacy issues, we will keep in mind our core values around student achievement. We believe in a continuum of high quality opportunities to help all students succeed, including quality early childhood education that provides children with the right start to academic success; student-focused interventions; a comprehensive assessment plan for each student, not one high stakes test; and quality professional development and support from literacy experts for all teachers.

Watch for frequent posts about the Legislature and public education right here every week.

Economic activity in Colorado during the fall months was better than expected, resulting in more state revenue than anticipated. There was stronger employment growth than planned, plus increased revenue from capital gains and increased sales and personal income taxes.

While we welcome this news, we are reminded that Colorado is still in a modest recovery from the recession and is not expected to return to pre-recession levels for several more years. Crises in global markets, especially in Europe, could negatively impact the U.S. and Colorado economies in 2012. HOWEVER…

As the result of increased revenues that were not expected, Governor Hickenlooper will present a budget request to the Legislature to restore some education funding:
- About $20 million for increased student enrollment and increased numbers of at-risk students which, if adopted by the Legislature, would mean no mid-year rescission of 2011-12 monies;
- Reversal of the Governor’s earlier announcement of a proposed $89 million cut for 2012-13 which, if the Legislature agrees, would mean no new cuts for 2012-13.

While the Governor is proposing no new cuts, he is not proposing to make up the $800 million in cuts over the last two years or fund everything pledged under Amendment 23. Our K-12 system is nearly $1 billion behind the level of funding the voters approved in 2000 with Amendment 23. That’s why the next steps in the Lobato lawsuit remedy are so important.

Last week, following the December 9 Lobato Case ruling, CEA released our recommendations for restoring education funding. One of our four steps was no additional cuts to state education funding. We appreciate Governor Hickenlooper’s leadership today: education cuts could be the first to be restored with unanticipated state revenues.

A lawsuit, Lobato vs. State of Colorado, was filed in 2005 by parents and school districts, mainly from the San Luis Valley. The District Court trial was held in August 2011 for an entire month. The State argued that the school finance law follows the Constitution – and more money for schools does not equate to better schools or better educated students.

Now that the lawsuit is successful, the Court will likely order the State Legislature to design a constitutional system. The Legislature has many tools it can use to both design and implement a new school finance system that will meet constitutional requirements. The Legislature will be granted a period of time in which to do this work, as has happened in other states where school funding systems were ruled unconstitutional. The Court will not dictate what the system will look like, how much revenue should be raised, or how it should be raised – that will be up the 100 lawmakers in the General Assembly.

CEA President Beverly Ingle said, “Investing in our public schools is critical. It is so much less expensive to educate a child than to remediate or rehabilitate a young adult who does not have a high school diploma and who is not ready to work or pursue higher education. We are thrilled that Judge Rappaport made this important decision for the future of public education, our students and their families, and everyone who works in our state’s public schools.”

It’s certainly no secret that Colorado’s State Treasurer is not especially fond of defined benefit pension plans.

The PERA Board of Trustees voted to not allow Stapleton to see the information. It’s not financial data he seeks, but member and beneficiary data for more than 18,000 people. Stapleton asked to see these individuals’ annual retirement benefits; when they retired and how old they were then; their last five years of salary while contributing to PERA; their zip codes; and what PERA division they were in when actively employed.

You can read PERA’s response and related info on its web site, and check out Stapleton’s FB page too. On it, he says, “It is my objective, while serving on PERA’s board, to act as a responsible board member and gather as much information as possible in order to make informed decisions to help keep PERA solvent for current and future retirees.”

In 2008-09, before the current recession began, Colorado spent $1,809 less per pupil than the national average of all states. In the last two years, as the recession and other factors have reduced state revenues, the situation has grown worse. Current spending on school finance is an estimated $774 million below the minimal increase required by Amendment 23.

Today the school funding issues in Colorado will go to trial in Denver District Court. The case of Lobato v. State of Colorado will be heard over the next four-five weeks.

Since 2008, Colorado has adopted new K-12 academic standards, assessments, and accountability systems. These important education reforms are now mandates from the state, and arguably are the programs, course offerings, and interventions necessary for every student to meet established state and federal achievement goals. In turn, these components can be quantified into hard costs, creating a connection between finance systems and academic outcomes.

CEA believes that the Legislature’s decisions have largely established what constitutes a “thorough and uniform” education in Colorado. The Lobato suit asks the court to determine whether Colorado’s current school funding system is up to the constitutional task of “maintaining” a thorough and uniform level of education to all children. We say “reform without resources” is unconstitutional. Colorado is stepping up to the reforms; now it is time to step up to the Colorado Constitution.

We hope you will follow the trial and learn about school funding in Colorado. And we hope you’ll comment on the issues that prompted the lawsuit: the funding dilemmas Colorado’s 178 districts face every day that impact every student attending public school in our state.

Jennifer Brown’s article takes a slap at PERA’s projected investment returns of eight percent, saying this is a higher hurdle than many economists find realistic. But Brown doesn’t give much credit to Senate Bill 1 from 2010 – when legislators, the PERA Board of Trustees, and the majority of organizations whose members belong to PERA worked on a bipartisan bill to stabilize the pension fund. She quotes several people who don’t think much of the 2010 law, including State Treasurer Walker Stapleton, always severely critical of PERA.

As for PERA having legal fees, lawyers, and lobbyists – all true and justifiable for a $40 billion business, it would seem. PERA administration costs one-tenth of one percent of the fund’s assets. In return, both active and retiree members of PERA can count on talking to a person when they call PERA and getting their checks on time. As for the amount spent on lobbyists, sure, that costs too. But Colorado legislators are term-limited, giving new members of the General Assembly a steep learning curve when it comes to complex issues like PERA and lobbyists can help get them up to speed.

And as for the matter that keeps coming up – that the PERA Board of Trustees is mainly current and retired employees covered by the pension plan – we think that’s okay. These fokls are volunteers who are educated in pension matters and occasionally provided meals, lodging, etc., so they can do their work together and with efficiency.

The bogus criticisms outlined in the articles hide the real issue: the “sky is falling because of the investment return numbers” is code for “let’s just end public employee defined-benefit pension plans.” That’s what the Independence Institute’s Barry Poulson has been saying by himself for years. Now he’s joined by other ideaologues who want nothing more than for the Legislature to kill PERA and offer a 401(k)-type plan to state and school district employees – whom do not, by the way, have Social Security benefits.