a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
a strong voice for kids 2nd Congressional District
Orr recited the Gettysburg Address, in commemoration of September 11. It was followed by a moment of silence.
BURNETT: Stalin occasionally said things that were correct: "The death of one is a tragedy, and the death of a million is a statistic." Lynne Fontanier's death a little less than a year ago reminded him of this quote: "Time has too much credit, and sometimes it doesn't heal at all."
HUDAK: September 11 had a personal impact for me, even though the World Trade Center was built after I left New York. One of my cousins had just been there a few days before, and another saw bodies flying out of the buildings. My brother, an architect, said that the planes were meant to make the buildings topple over, but the terrorists were unaware of the architectural design - it saved lives. Thinking about September 11 reinforces the importance of teaching civics/social studies - the politics of the world affects us. I attended the recent CASE Conference. One of the keynote speakers, Dr. Bill Banach, was particularly interesting. He said that the nature of change has changed - it's not rapid change, it's radical change, which causes intense frustration - for example, external forces like September 11. In discussing marketing, he said that most customers move on because of a negative employee contact - this shows the importance of school secretaries. He said that a good logo for schools is: "We save lives here." In the Special Education Advisory Committee's report in the Board book, please note page 3: "Appropriate services for students with exceptional learning needs are severely compromised by 3 challenges: personnel issues, funding issues, and philosophical issues." In regard to funding issues, this is highlighted by the lawsuit that was recently filed against us. Please also check out the position paper "Linking General Education and Special Education." The committee has requested to meet with us for our comments on these. As the Board's liaison, I attended the quarterly meeting of the Colorado Council for Library Development. They have created a flyer "Student Research: A Guide to the Research Process and How Libraries Help students Achieve." They are doing workshops around the state with teachers and tech people on the accreditation requirements for a technology literacy plan. The Colorado Association of Librarians is working for restoration of funds by talking to legislators about success stories and telling how people are affected. Colorado will have a table at the National Book Fair at the White House on October 12. I attended Jeffco's Accreditation training for members of school accountability committees; it was excellent. They are very committed to accomplishing all the requirements in the accreditation rules. CDE will be putting on the annual Parent Conference November 7-8; this year it will have a strand on Accountability and Accreditation. We are working to hold a State Accountability Conference next year. The Colorado School Finance Project has just issued a report on changes in Colorado's public school funding. It contains many fascinating facts; it covers topics like changes in enrollment, areas in which districts' spending has increased and decreased, changes in numbers of special needs students and free/reduced lunch students, etc. One specific example of the data in the report is that personal income in the state has skyrocketed during the last 12 years, yet the proportion of it being spent on education has decreased. We should ask them to come back and present a summary of this report to us. I continue to attend the monthly meetings of the HR1 Committee. I commend Bill Windler, Roscoe Davidson, and staff for their excellent work on this.
ORR: Express thanks to the staff of CDE; he hasn't been on every floor to meet all the staff. When first got on this board, did not trust the staff, and stayed up late at night reading every word of the Board book. Now trusts the staff, from Commissioner on down. They are some of the unsung heroes who don't get the recognition deserved.
POLIS: Was in Washington, DC, last year on Sept. 11 and it was terrifying. The terrorists did not win, and we are stronger than we were then. Amendment 23 will change the trend of negative school funding; even if personal income is flat, school funding should catch up with it. We are very happy to have Amendment 23 in our state Constitution. Now that it is election season, things are wacky; it is fortunate that this Board has 6-year terms, so the second you get on here, you don't have to start posturing, and you can focus on doing for kids. Will be going to Milwaukee next week to see their school choice program. Has seen a number of schools in Colorado doing good things.
STANFORD: There are times that we are criticized rightly, but today it was unfairly in what was said in the paper about the CSAP scores being incorrect. Happy to have been here during all our good work Thankful to be able to help Suckla clarify her opposition to Amendment 31. Hopes that even if Orr is not reading the entire Board book, he will read all of Amendment 31.
SUCKLA: Share sentiments of fellow Board members. Has been an interesting month since was here last. Follows son in rodeo circuit. Takes time to get to know people and schools in her district. Is in Grand Junction frequently. Went to their most unique school, a tech school. They have a chef school and serve meals daily. It has a state-of-the-art communications department. Students are there because they want to be. Encouraged this Board to travel and see it and other unique schools.
DEHOFF: Big event a couple of weeks ago was going to the Chairs conference of NASBE and NSBA (National School Boards Association). It was three days for state leaders to get together and share what's going on. This is the second year he has been able to attend. What struck him most was the main topic, NCLB's impact - a number of states have a "chicken little" reaction. Colorado is way ahead of the curve. Yesterday we heard Dr. Norm Ridder from D-11 about what they're doing - acknowledged by President Bush. It's not just Bessemer and Pueblo - it's all around the state. Commendations to all educators. We have civics standards; they are good standards - this is a good opportunity for us to review them and remind ourselves about what we think is important. We need to do a better job of teaching history. Let's rededicate ourselves to these standards.
COMMISSIONER MOLONEY: It is satisfying to us seeing our efforts recognized, such as Bush last week. Had the opportunity to testify on Tuesday to Senator Kennedy's Senate Education Committee. Feels inadequate to add to any of the sentiments expressed regarding September 11, but would like to repeat the importance of schools stressing nationhood. There was a discussion about the inadequacy of history textbooks, especially at the high school level, to meet our new standards. It seems extraordinary for us to realize that it is lacking - ex., pilgrims referred to as "early travelers" because of fear of reference to their religious nature. What is the value of democracy if it is just another form of government? Thanks to Mr. Orr for, as he has done so many other times, bringing us such a special and appropriate moment. Most often compliments of the SBE that he's heard around the state are about Orr's recitation of the Gettysburg Address (he didn't read it - he recited it). "To hear those words is to touch the mystic chord of memory" - Abraham Lincoln.
A report/booklet from the Coalition to Close the Achievement Gap (C-TAG) was put together in preparation for the Coalition's recent meeting with the Governor and Attorney General. [It contains the accreditation indicators and how they relate to closing the achievement gap. It lists the "nontraditional alliances - groups around the state that are helping us reach out to various parts of local communities. It reviews the four focuses of C-TAG: best practices, parent/family/community involvement, teacher quality and professional development, and accreditation and data collection.] In the meeting, our expectations were more than met, with the Governor pledging his legislative staff to design legislation and ask key legislators to devote some of their bills to it. Both the Governor and Attorney General Salazar stressed the importance of getting the business community to understand the importance of this effort. We are looking for funds that might be available to fund this. The Board put $1 million into our budget for Department support. There is a commitment to funding, if we can identify where the money comes from and there is accountability to ensure that specific goals are achieved.
Special thanks are due to Erlinda Archuleta, Assistant Commissioner, who has been absolutely indispensable to this effort. It's been three years so far that the group has been working on this.
Stanford said that this is Commissioner Moloney's "shining star" of his administration. Pointed out that the Legislature did pass the Family Literacy bill, although it was provided no funding. Next month Stanford will propose a resolution for the Board to encourage businesses to contribute to the fund set up in that bill. We need to provide the financial resources to CDE staff in the regions to support this work.
DeHoff mentioned that I will be taking the Board's regards to the conference on early childhood on September 20. The Board is firmly committed to early childhood education.
We have a proposal before the Daniels Foundation for some funding. There is also a substantial increase in federal funding - No Child Left Behind is all about closing the achievement gap. We should be able to shape our use of federal money to help our Regional Service Teams to work on this. There will be a comprehensive proposal coming to the Board by November. Yesterday the Board had two insights, as we heard from a principal in Pueblo 60 on the Lindamood-Bell reading program and from Dr. Ridder from District 11 in Colorado Springs: The empowerment of teachers and the intensity of professional development can produce amazing results, and strong leadership is vital.
Moloney pointed out that none of this would have been possible without the unity of this Board on the issue.
Scheduled a hearing for November 14, 2002, on the rules for the Administration of the Summer School Grant Program for Facilities Schools. [The Summer School Grant Program for Facility Schools was created by legislation in 2002; it requires the Department of Education to administer the grant program, and the SBE must promulgate rules including the process and time frames for applications and distribution of funds.]
Approved the establishment of the following on-grounds special education schools/facilities, which have met the criteria for eligible facilities as described in the Rules for the Administration of the Public School Finance Act of 1994, as well as the requirements set forth by the Special Education Services Unit:
Scheduled a hearing for November 14, 2002, on the rules for the Administration of the Allocation of the 135 Online Student Slots. [HB 02-1349 provided for 135 full-time student slots for students receiving their education predominately online through a Colorado cyberschool via the worldwide web. These student slots are for Colorado students who, during the preceding school year, were enrolled after October 1 in public schools in Colorado school districts or in private schools, or were participating in nonpublic home-based education programs or in home instruction by licensed teachers. Rules are required to specify the requirements that the Colorado cyberschool programs will have to meet in order to qualify for these student slots and the method that the Department staff will use to allocate student slots to qualified schools. At its July 2002 meeting, the SBE adopted emergency rules to allow the 135 slots to be allocated for the 2002-2003 school year. Permanent rules are needed, since the emergency rules will expire as of November 2002.]
Accepted and approved the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement for one licensed teacher.
Approved emergency Type III educator authorizations for 63 initially and 62 renewals .
[Local districts may request Type III Emergency Authorization to employ non-licensed teachers, principals, administrators, or special services providers if they agree to provide an induction program. The SBE's approval is based on consideration of whether the district has demonstrated a shortage of licensed personnel and the employment of non-licensed personnel is essential to preserving the instructional program and to the well-being of the children enrolled.]
Scheduled a hearing for November 14, 2002, on the rules for the Administration of the Teacher Development Grant Program. [As part of the legislative oversight of rulemaking, the Committee on Legal Services voted not to extend Rule 2207-R-2.02(3) of the Teacher Development Grant Program. Thus, the SBE must revise the rules. This part of the rules said the following: "Grants shall be awarded for a two-year period and may not exceed $20,000....]
Adopted amendments to the rules for the Administration of Operation of School Transportation Vehicles. [A public hearing was conducted at the July 11 Board meeting, and Board discussion was conducted at the August 8 Board meeting. New federal and state statutes, as well as changes in the student transportation industry, necessitate revisions and updates of these rules. These rules apply to all vehicles used by all Colorado school districts for any purpose that is part of the district program.]
COLORADO SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CSEAC) ANNUAL REPORT
The annual report of CSEAC has been submitted to the SBE, outlining the committee's goals for the year, including the activities and progress for meeting those goals, and the position paper they developed, "Linking General Education and Special Education." [CSEAC is comprised of 31 members, representing the Congressional Districts of the state and consisting of, according to federal regulation, 51% adults with disabilities and/or parents of students with disabilities. CSEAC oversees the implementation of the Colorado State Improvement Plan for Special Education.]
Incoming Co-Chair of CSEAC, Stephanie Lynch, spoke about the position paper. Position papers are written by the committee to publish a record of its official position on issues vital in the area of special education. "Linking General Education and Special Education" is one of these topics. The President has mentioned that most special education students are also general education students. Values expressed by the committee include these: (1) the education of all students is the shared responsibility of every educator, family member, and student; (2) all students have the right to participate in standardized state and district assessments of learning; (3) the achievement of learning outcomes requires well-trained and competent educators; and (4) the best learning outcomes are the result of active collaboration between educators and families. There are three main challenges for students with special needs [see my Board report above, where I mentioned them]. CSEAC's recommendations to meet these are as follows: (1) Prioritize Sliver Grants for collaboration of special education and general education. (2) Have general education representation on CSEAC. (3) Endorse in teacher education a basic understanding of special education regulations, collaborative values, and strategies, and infuse special education methodologies in their training. (4) Make training available for parents and educators, to attend conferences. (5) Improve building-level support by providing IEPs to all teachers, which includes a checklist of accommodations and modifications. (6) Provide supports for collaboration, with time and funding. (7) Train administrators on issues of responsible inclusion and access to general education curriculum.
Burnett asked about parents who complain that their children were placed in Special Ed. against their will. Lynch said that parents are legally required to be included in the evaluation to determine whether a child is put in SE and in the planning of the IEP. Polis asked about irresponsible inclusion, such as a child in a classroom who requires extraordinary attention by the teacher to the detriment of the other students. Lynch said that this is a big issue, and we need to advocate more for additional supports of SE staff in these cases. DeHoff asked if CSEAC is involved in discussions on IDEA reauthorization. Lynch said that the members have been actively disseminating information and getting people to make comments. Polis said that history books need to say more about the contribution of people with disabilities, such as FDR. Lynch said that's an interesting comment; there is a lack of awareness of disability in schools. I pointed out that we need to keep the linking of SE and general education in mind when we work on teacher preparation and principal education. I commended the work of the committee.
Due to the resignation of two members of CCLD, the SBE needs to make appointments to fill the vacancies. Needed are two citizen representatives, who are not currently working in a library or serving as part of its governing body - one from the 3rd Congressional District and one from the 6th. The Board is also asked to reappoint Sue Eckhardt, who has completed one term representing an urban school library/media center.
The Board will be asked to approve waivers for 13 approved designated agencies for alternative teacher licensure. The waivers are for the requirement that the alternative teacher candidates pass the PLACE assessments prior to accepting employment as alternative teachers. [The alternative teachers meet all other requirements for the program and will be required to complete the assessment during the school year and prior to receiving their provisional license.]
MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2003 - The 2003 schedule of SBE meetings will be voted on in the October meeting. The proposed dates are as follows: January 8-9, February 7 (Retreat), February 12-13, March 5-6, April 9-10, May 7-8, June 11-13 (Retreat and Standards Conference), July 9-10, August 13-14, September 10-11, October 8-9, November 12-13, and December 10-11.
PAT PATTERSON: Concerned about amount of supplies that schools require students to have and why schools are not paying for these supplies. Gave us numerous examples from different schools, most of which are fairly long. I pointed out that it was the large cuts in school funding over the past decade or more that caused the elimination of funding, and that many PTAs work to get contributions for these supplies for poor children. She is also wondering why CASB is listed with the Secretary of State as a dissolved nonprofit corporation, and there is no record of its being organized as another corporation. Suckla said that she'll follow up on this, being our liaison to CASB. Suckla pointed out that school supplies are an issue of local control.
ERIC HIRSCH (Director of the Alliance for Quality Teaching): At the Alliance meeting tomorrow, they will be bringing representatives from PLACE and PRAXIS for the panel discussion, but in case we can't attend then, they'll be here in this room at 1: 30 p.m. today.
SANDY PANETTA: Was impressed by the presentation on special education today. When her first child was born (who is the same age as Jared Polis), she attended Montview Community Preschool, one of the most respected preschools in the state. Panetta was asked to be a member of their advisory board later. Listening to the CSEAC report brought up a "red flag" - it might be a violation of the law to share a child's IEP with other school staff. Her son has a disability, who had an IEP with learning objectives tied to objective tests; we shouldn't tie the IEP just to the child's weaknesses. The law allows a district to implement the IEP without a parent's signature - only have to indicate that the parent participated in the IEP process. She never signed her child's IEP, in order that she would have the right to go back and request another evaluation.
LOWELL CAMPBELL: Was here last month and requested public records on teachers' licenses for his local elementary school, and he hasn't received them. Has drafted an official request to us for this. He just wants to confirm that the teachers at the school are properly licensed. Moloney said that Dorothy Gotlieb, head of OPS/EL, was asked to find out what the school district is required to do.
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