a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District

EVIE'S BOARD NOTES - UPDATE FOR OCTOBER 2006 MEETING

There are two things I thought you'd want to know before our State Board of Education meetings this week:

1.YOU CAN LISTEN TO US OVER THE INTERNET!

The Colorado State Board of Education is broadcasting meetings, work sessions, and hearings online. You can listen live from the eBoard Homepage, or from the Work Session and Regular Meeting agendas. We'd prefer to see you there, but if you can't make it in person, tune in at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and Thursday, Oct. 5.

At this time, the broadcasts will be available live only during the Board meeting. If you'd like copies of the recordings, they are available for a reasonable fee from the Board Relations Office (call 303-866-6817). Of course, you can always read my meeting notes on my website.

If the links above don't work, cut and paste the following links into your address bar:

eBoard: style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial'> http://www.gsbaeboard.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CDEAgenda.woa/wa/homePage

Work Session: http://www.gsbaeboard.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CDEAgenda.woa/wa/showMeeting

Regular Meeting: http://www.gsbaeboard.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CDEAgenda.woa/wa/displayMeeting?meetingID=62

style='font-size:10.0pt'> Here are the upcoming meetings you may be interested in tuning into:

Meetings

October 4 Work Session, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

October 5 Regular Meeting, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

November 8 Work Session, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

November 9 Regular Meeting, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

December 13 Work Session, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m

December 14 Regular Meeting, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Rules Hearings

October 5, 2006 Amendments to the Rules for the Administration
10:00 a.m. of the Exceptional Children's Educational Act, 1 CCR 301-8

October 5, 2006 Amendments to the Rules for the Administration of
10:30 a.m. the Summer School Grant Program for Facility Schools, 1 CCR 301-5

November 9, 2006 Amendments to the Rules for the Administration of
class="GramE"> 10:00 a.m. The Educator Licensing Act of 1991, 1 CCR 301-37

2. ITEM ADDED TO AGENDA THAT HAS HUGE IMPLICATIONS

At the last minute (today), an item was added to the agenda for Thursday's meeting (no specific time set): A motion to approve waivers for a two-year period ending September 30, 2008, for the Douglas County School District, as follows: 22-9-106(4); 22-60.5-106, 201; 22-63-201, 203, 301, 302, and 403, CRS. Staff also recommends waiving the following rule for the same time period: 1 CCR 301-37 2260.5-R-2.00. style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial'>

So you know how extensive these waivers are, consider this:

22-9-106(4) says that only someone with a principal or administrator license may evaluate licensed personnel.
style='font-style:normal; font-variant:normal; font-weight:normal; font-size:7.0pt; font-family:Times New Roman; mso-list:Ignore; mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol'> 22-60.5-106 designates the Department of Education as the sole agency authorized to grant endorsements for a teacher’s license, including one for special education.
22-60.5-201 designates the Department of Education as the sole agency authorized to issue teacher licenses.
22-63-201 says that a local school board may not enter into an employment contract with any person as a teacher unless such person holds a license.
22-63-203 describes the terms of renewal or non-renewal of employment for probationary teachers.
22-63-301 spells out the grounds for dismissal of a teacher.
22-63-302 provides the terms for judicial review, if a teacher is dismissed.style='font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial'>
22-63-403 says that a teacher who is dismissed is entitled to a pro rata share of the salary due during the contract period in which no services are required to be performed.
1 CCR 301-37 2260.5-R-2.00 is the entire set of rules regarding Educator Licensing, including the following: the degrees necessary to be licensed, the institutions of higher education that may prepare teachers, the mentoring process for new teachers, reciprocal agreements for licensure with other states, application procedures for a license, types of licenses, requirements for alternative licensure, requirements for various kinds of authorizations, the standards for teacher preparation and principal licensure, and the requirements for all endorsements.style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family: Arial'>

In my opinion, granting these waivers to a large school district is not something that should be done lightly, and I think it sets a dangerous precedent. The laws are in place for a reason. Just because Douglas County has high student achievement is not a strong enough argument for them to avoid following the laws that all other districts have to follow. I will be stating this opinion at the meeting on Thursday.