EDUCATION

An adequately funded system of public education is one of the basic functions a state should provide.  For too long Colorado has ranked in the bottom 10 states in K-12 funding, teacher pay, and the cost of higher education.

Our kids deserve better than this.  Below are bills I have worked on to improve K-12 and higher education in Colorado.

Adult High School Educational Options (SB23-003) - Many Coloradans are forced to leave high school early due to various life circumstances and face barriers that make it difficult to return and earn their degree. I sponsored this bill to create a pathway for adults over 21 to get their high school diploma free of cost, improving Colorado’s workforce and closing equity gaps. The Colorado Adult High School Program would reside within the Department of Education and partner with a local nonprofit to operate the program in a pilot phase.  Status: signed into law.

Expanding Access to Free Community College (HB22-1002 & HB22-1390) – For over 10 years Colorado has had a program called ASCENT that enables qualifying high school seniors to take an additional or fifth year of high school to pursue concurrent enrollment courses at a local community college (like CCA). This allows students to complete a 2-year degree with no tuition cost, saving thousands of dollars. Historically, ASCENT has been capped at 500 students per year, fewer than the number of students the state’s own data shows would like to pursue ASCENT. I sponsored HB 1002 to eliminate the cap, making ASCENT eligible to any qualifying student.  During the legislative process, HB 1002 was incorporated into the annual “School Finance Act,” HB22-1390, and became law that way. STATUS – signed into law.

Tax Fairness Act (HB20-1420) – In 2020, the U.S. Congress made changes to federal tax law that disproportionately benefit a very small fraction of taxpayers – the most affluent individuals and corporations. These federal law changes impact Colorado’s tax filings too, even though Colorado voters never approved them and the Colorado legislature never debated them.  Due to COVID-19, the Colorado legislature had to cut over $3 billion from K-12 education, higher education, health care, transportation, small business support and more to meet our constitutional obligation to balance our state budget.  To keep these budget cuts from going even deeper, I co-sponsored this bill to stop the impact of these federal tax loopholes on Colorado and instead increase our commitment to funding K-12 education and supporting working families via the Earned Income Tax Credit.  STATUS:  signed into law.

Budget Amendment for Technical College Funding (HB18-1322) – I sponsored an amendment to the budget to increase funding to Area Technical Colleges (ATCs), including Pickens Tech in Aurora, by $1.2 million to help keep up with enrollment growth. Area Technical Colleges like Pickens offer valuable technical training that helps students of all ages compete for good- paying jobs and funding the ATCs to fulfill their mission is a smart investment.  STATUS: signed into law.

ASCENT Concurrent Enrollment & Graduation Rates (HB17-1294) – ASCENT is a program that allows high school students to take college courses during a “5th year” of high school, at no tuition cost to the student, making progress toward or even completing a 2-year degree.  Aurora and Cherry Creek schools have more students taking advantage of ASCENT than most other districts in the state. Until recently, ASCENT students were not counted as high school graduates until the end of the 5th year. Thus, high-achieving ASCENT students used to be counted as “failing” to graduate high school on time in 4 years, creating a potential obstacle to utilization of ASCENT. I sponsored this bill to correct the problem by counting an ASCENT student as having graduated from high school when the high school graduation requirements are met.  STATUS – signed into law.

Budget Amendment – ASCENT Funding (SB17-254) – I won passage of an amendment to Colorado’s 2017-18 budget to increase funding for the ASCENT concurrent enrollment program by about 10%. More students will now have the opportunity to take college courses through ASCENT than ever before.  STATUS – signed into law.

Transparency for Private Occupational Schools (SB17-118) – With student indebtedness becoming a bigger problem, students need to be able to make informed decisions before committing to a degree or certificate program, particularly at expensive private schools.  I sponsored this bill to require private occupational schools to provide information to prospective students on metrics like graduation and employment rates and debt levels.  STATUS – killed on a party-line committee vote in GOP state senate.

I’ve also supported education legislation to:

• Increase per-student funding and reduce the education funding deficit (“budget stabilization factor”) by $180 million.  This bill also commits $30 million specifically to rural schools, which often face significant funding challenges (SB23-287 – signed into law);

• Offer 10 hours of free pre-school for all Colorado families (HB22-1295 – signed into law);

• Fund “universal high school scholarships” of up to $1500 for 15,000 graduating seniors to attend college, trade school, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training in 2024-25. (SB23-205 – signed into law);

• Translate Individualized Education Program documents so that students with special learning needs and their families can fully understand their educational plans in the language most commonly spoken at home (HB23-1263 - signed into law);

• Allow all students to learn free from harassment and discrimination by requiring schools to have modern policies for investigating allegations and to conduct regular trainings (SB23-296 – signed into law);

• Increase special education funding by $80M per year (SB22-127 – signed into law);

• Test for and remediate lead in drinking water sources in schools (HB22-1358 – signed into law);

• Help older schools upgrade indoor air quality so students can learn in a healthy environment (SB21-202 – signed into law);

• Establish the Department of Early Childhood to provide early childhood education with voter-approved funding (HB21-1304 – signed into law);

• Offer in-state tuition (which is lower than out of state tuition) for Native American students who are enrolled members of federally recognized Indian tribes with historic ties to Colorado (SB21-029 – signed into law);

• End “legacy” preferences at state schools, so first-generation students can compete for college admission equitably (HB21-1173 – signed into law);

• Award college credit for relevant work experience to reduce the cost and time of completing a college degree (HB20-1002 – signed into law);

• Make apprenticeship training information available in every school & district in Colorado (SB20-081 – signed into law);

• Fund Full Day Kindergarten for any student, anywhere in the state who wants to attend (HB19-1262 – signed into law);

• Boost K-12 funding by $100M (SB19-246 – signed into law);

• Make new funding available for career and technical education (HB19-1008 – signed into law);

• Increase funding for special education (SB19-066 – signed into law);

• Oversee student loan servicers who collect on education debt (SB19-002 – signed into law); and

• Keep tuition flat at our public colleges and universities (SB19-207 – signed into law).

• Increase K-12 education funding by $150 million, an increase of over $200 per student, statewide (HB18-1379 – signed into law);

• Increase higher education funding by 9% in order to reduce the rate of tuition increases (HB18-1322 – signed into law);

• Increase school safety & security funding by $30 million (SB18-269 – signed into law);

• Reduce teacher turnover (HB18-1412 – signed into law).