a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
BURNETT: Far back in March 1988, he attended a Republican fund-raiser for George Bush, at which time he could still walk with a cane - had to walk very far and almost fell - and a very nice man helped him to a table with an available seat, but the placard said "Legislators only." People started complaining about him sitting there, when Rep. Ken Chlouber came up and said that he would stand and let Burnett have his seat. Never realized that 13 years later he would be serving with his wife.
DEHOFF: It has been a somewhat quieter month, except for the release of CSAP scores. The CSAP scores were encouraging and he was pleased with the response from the education community, especially in regard to the low 10th grade math scores. We are making progress in our reform efforts. Educators around the state are stepping up to the challenge. Attended the new superintendents dinner - some were new to the state, others to their district. Will be going next month to the NASBE chairs conference and looking forward to it.
HUDAK: I recently attended the New Member Institute sponsored by NASBE (National Association of State Boards of Education). It was interesting to learn that NASBE was formed in Colorado - about 15 years ago, some members of State Boards of Education of various states were here for a conference, and they decided that SBE members need a means of networking and support. Before attending the NASBE conference, which was in Washington, D.C., I stayed with relatives in Maryland and heard comments from them about the educational system in that state. Then I spent two weeks in Florida with other family members and heard their comments about education in Florida. I must say that from what I heard, people in Colorado are much more satisfied with the public schools, and I believe that the education that Colorado delivers is of very high quality. Which brings me to comment about CSAP, since we recently released the scores for all the CSAPs that were given this past spring. I am pleased to see that our students have shown considerable improvement. I am not worried about the low scores in 10th grade math; the first time a test is given, the scores are just a baseline. It should be pointed out that one reason for the low performance is that most high schools haven't been teaching Algebra and Geometry prior to 10th grade. I am confident that our teachers and schools will focus on the standards and bring up the scores.
ORR: Although he lives on the eastern slope, his roots are the western slope, and thus appreciates the connectivity throughout the state. As a rancher and farmer, he had never expected to end up on the SBE, but was taught to get involved and do what needs to be done. Felt that education needed his contribution - is the senior member of the board and got on when it first approved the content standards. Has seen us move from the beginning of the "marathon" to the "finish line" of seeing CSAP results. "Keep the West Slope spirit." We're in an ongoing process on improving the CSAPs. Recognized the Mesa Valley school board members in attendance - local school board members do most of the work in education. Thanked Rep. Berry for coming today and taking an interest. "We're here to help you succeed, not hold a hammer over you when you don't." Mentioned the resolution that the board approved at the last meeting on posting the historical documents of American democracy. People need to remember all the soldiers who sacrificed for our freedom.
POLIS: Traveled to Pueblo and Glenwood Springs and Gypsum recently - everyone's working toward the same goal - commitment to every child's learning. One of the beauties of the data-driven approach is that we learn a lot about what is happening and see that it can be done, as in Pueblo 60. Education needs contributions from the public and private sector, non-profit sector, and for-profit sector. The strengths of each are different. With local school board elections coming up, it is obvious that we need people to step up and be willing to serve. He is making personal efforts through the Jared Polis Foundation - a school bus delivers technology and a class, refurbishing computers and putting them in youth centers.
STANFORD: Happy to be in Grand Junction, home of such as (former state senator) Tillie Bishop, etc.; acknowledged Rep. Gail Berry and Gayle Schwartz from the Board of Regents. Have some of the best practices of education in general here. Nice to get details yesterday about Mesa Valley and Delta. The entire community here takes responsibility for the success of all the students. Standards-based school reform, getting funds to districts. We are now taking on the issues of K-12 education and putting resources towards closing the learning gap. We have come to a very good place - Caesar said "the die is cast" and we too have cast the die to meet the needs of all our students. Roscoe Davidson will be hosting a conversation about the data bank so everyone has access to information on addressing the needs of students' learning. Wonderful to learn about teacher recruitment and retention here on this side of the Divide. The report of the Character Education Conference from last year is now available; character education is being woven into curriculum as a strategy to promote standards-based learning and helping kids learn the skills they need. Thanked Chair Chlouber, Randy DeHoff, and Lynne Fontanier for putting the conference and booklet together. It's a proud time to be serving on this board.
CHLOUBER: Has the honor to chair one of the most talented Boards of Education that Colorado has ever had, with a wonderful mix of people - it's an honor to serve with them. The controversy of education reform is not about state standards; we have done a marvelous job on the standards. It is now an enormous challenge to assess children fairly. The Board chose one of the foremost people in the nation to help us with this, the Commissioner.
COMMISSIONER: What sometimes gets lost in all of the conversation about education reform is having a perspective on what's going on - thought about it on the drive here through the spectacular scenery. Reflected on what it must have been like to come through the mountains before roads and trains - what courage it must have taken. Themes of our nation of freedom and opportunity - and how they relate to education. In this struggle to lift the achievement of all our children, our country has always been good about rising to challenges. For children whose first language is not English, the challenge of reform is a local story, as demonstrated yesterday in the presentation by the Mesa Valley committee to close the learning gap. It is so heartening to see what folks out here are doing. Our success will be because of people like you, who will not take no for an answer. Thank you, the parents, teachers, and elected officials, whose efforts will make it a success.
Scheduled a hearing for October 4, 2001, to consider new rules for the Administration of the Colorado School Awards Program.
[The Colorado School Awards Program, including both the John Irwin Schools of Excellence Awards and the Governor's Distinguished Improvement Awards, was created in SB 00-186. The SBE is required to adopt rules for implementing the program, which is designed to present financial awards to the highest performing and the most improved public schools in the state, as determined by the School Accountability Reports. During the first year of implementation, all the monies will be awarded to the highest performing schools; in subsequent years, one-third will be awarded for overall academic performance and two-thirds to the most improved public schools in the state. Approximately $1.5 million has been appropriated to fund the first year of the program. The rules must specifically address: (1) transmitting the financial awards to schools; (2) the relationship of funding levels to number of pupils attending the school; and (3) use of the awards.
Scheduled a hearing for October 4, 2001, to consider rules for the Administration of the Summer School Grant Program. (See #4 above for details about the program.)
Approved the remainder of the distribution of funds (10%) for fiscal year 2001 to ELPA-eligible school districts in accordance with the English Language Proficiency Act. These funds are to be used to defray the costs of the ELPA Program.
Approved the accreditation contracts for 24 school districts.
Approved county equalization grant entitlements to the Regional Library Service Systems (RLSS) for fiscal year 2002 in the total amount of $134,114.
[The Colorado General Assembly has appropriated $134,114 for county equalization grants to be distributed through the RLSS. Since 1974, the General Assembly has funded this grants program, which provides supplemental state funds for library service to counties that are most in need based upon low per capita income or low population combined with low assessed valuation. This grant program is administered by the Colorado State Library in cooperation with the RLSS under rules adopted by the SBE (CCR 302-21).
(1) EDUCATOR AUTHORIZATIONS
Approved 23 initial and 28 renewals.
(2) TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS
Approved the following as designated agencies for the preparation of teachers through the alternative teacher program:
(3) TEACHER IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMS
Approved teacher in residence programs for each of the following school districts:
(4) DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
Approved 2001-2002 payments under the Exceptional Children's Educational Act (ECEA) for gifted and talented education for school districts in the amount of $2,875,972 and for regional assistance centers in the amount of $400,000.
[The SBE's approval is necessary to distribute payments to school districts for their gifted and talented education programs under ECEA. The Legislature appropriated $5,802,500 for this funding for the 2001-2002 school year. The funds are distributed as follows: 18% in equal shares to each qualified district, 7% in a per-student amount of qualifying districts' total student enrollments (for the estimate of the districts' gifted and talented student population) and 7% for support of the gifted and talented regional facilitators and the professional development programs conducted by the Regional Assistance Centers.]
Granted waivers of Colorado statutes from August 9, 2001, through June 30, 2006, to the following:
Granted waivers of Colorado statutes from August 9, 2001, through September 13, 2001, to the following:
Adopted amendments to the rules for the Administration of the Waiver of Statute and Rule.
Adopted amendments, with slight modifications, to the rules for the Administration of Education Reform.
Adopted the proposed Emergency Rules for the Administration of the Summer School Grant Program. (Emergency rules must be adopted at this time because the full process of adopting rules requires several months.)
[The Summer School Grant Program, created in SB 01-129, requires the SBE to adopt rules prior to September 1, 2001, for implementing the grant program, which is designed specifically to fund summer reading programs for children who have scored "Unsatisfactory" on CSAP Reading after they have completed 3rd and 4th grades and before they enter 4th or 5th grades respectively. The rules must address application procedures for the disbursement of the funds appropriated. Approximately $945,800 has been appropriated to fund the first year of the program. This is a formula-driven grant program. The rules must specifically address: (1) funding programs designed to provide intensive literacy and reading comprehension services to eligible children; (2) application procedures that describe the curriculum the school district will use in the summer reading program, the form of the grant application, and the times frames for distribution of the grant monies; and (3) other criteria the SBE may deem appropriate.]
The University of Denver is requesting approval of a program leading to endorsement in school library media. The SBE and CCHE must approve this program. It will enable program completers to add the endorsement to their valid Provisional or Professional Teacher License, assuming all other requirements are met. This request will be on the SBE agenda for action at the September 2001 meeting.
Littleton Public Schools, a SBE-approved designated agency for alternative teacher licensure, seeks a waiver of the requirement (pursuant to current SBE rules) that their alternative teacher candidates pass the PLACE assessment prior to accepting employment as alternative teachers. This waiver would allow Littleton Public Schools to employ alternative teachers who have met all other requirements for the program; these teachers would be required to complete the PLACE assessment during the school year and prior to receiving their provisional license. [The SBE is authorized by state statute and SBE rule to grant waivers for alternative teacher programs; waivers may be granted for a two-year period and are renewable.]
The Front Range Board of Cooperative Educational Services and the University of Colorado at Denver are proposing the establishment of a teacher in residence program. This proposal will be submitted as an action item on the SBE's agenda at the September 2001 meeting.
Special Education Advisory Committee Annual Report
DAN ROBINSON: (From Mesa Valley Board of Ed) Importance of school funding. Mesa Valley is the lowest of all in school funding. Please lobby for more funding.
SHIRLEY OTERO: (Parent in Mesa Valley, teacher at Grand Junction HS, coordinator of program for Latino students in Mesa Valley, and on Statewide Parent Coalition) There is no representation from the West Slope on the Coalition to Close the Learning Gap. Direct correlation between Latino students who drop out and kids in the Youth Correction facility. Numbers have doubled or tripled recently to warehouse those kids. Two-thirds have substance abuse problems and many have mental health problems, and 36% of all Colorado Latino kids are tied to the judicial system in some way. Need early intervention. A key is training with the 40 developmental assets - train professional and classified staff in these. Working on that initiative. Have gone out into communities and trained over 600 students. Also have training program to train fathers in parent involvement. Asking for financial assistance to hold a parent conference in Grand Junction. Just like students and staff need training, parents do too. The new superintendent is doing an excellent job paying attention to this issue. Will be holding a conference in Denver on Sept. 16 "Closing the Achievement Gap for African-American and Latino Parents." The last weekend in September is a conference in Grand Junction for Colorado and nearby states for college students to address the issue of recruiting minority teachers. Need to shift resources to work on these issues. It is a shame that in Colorado we choose to fund prisons over education. For ESL students it is critical not to overlook their native language to have the opportunity to complete in a global society.
VICKY SIMMONS (Physical Education teacher in local elem school) Please remember the importance of physical education. Additional tools for students to develop cognitive skills. Lifelong physical well-being.
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