By Peter Marcus, THE DENVER DAILY NEWS

Democratic incumbent U.S. Senate candidate Michael Bennet’s campaign said yesterday that opponent Ken Buck wants to do away with federal student loans.

But Buck’s campaign says, “Usually incumbents run on the record, but Bennet is running away from his.”

The Buck campaign says the Weld County District Attorney does not want to do away with federal student loans, but does oppose a “government takeover of the student loan market.”

When referring to a “government takeover of student loans,” Republicans are referring to recent federal legislation that requires all student loans originated after July 1 to be done through the U.S. Department of Education’s direct loan program. For 45 years prior to the legislation, private banks and lenders received a federal subsidy for making government-guaranteed college loans. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the change will save taxpayers about $61 billion over 10 years because the government won’t have to pay a subsidy to banks anymore.

Bennet’s campaign said Buck has called for a plan that includes shifting federal student loans over to private loans. Switching to solely private loans would double interest rates and prevent many students from receiving a college education, said Bennet’s campaign.

“Michael believes every student deserves the opportunity to attend college regardless of financial circumstances,” Bennet campaign spokesman Trevor Kincaid said in a campaign e-mail. “Ken Buck’s extreme position would repeal student loans and the dream of a college degree for hopeful students all over Colorado who wouldn’t be able to attend college without financial aid.”

Bennet joined students yesterday on the Auraria Campus where he rallied for federal funding for higher education. As the former superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Bennet has made education a focus of his campaign and work in the U.S. Senate.

Bennet says private student loans are not guaranteed by the federal government and therefore are not regulated to protect students.

“By any measure, federal loans are a much better deal for students and families than private loans,” states a Bennet campaign e-mail. “Federal loans have low, fixed interest rates, while private loans often have variable interest rates that fluctuate wildly quarter-to-quarter, forcing students to engage in risky and unpredictable financing. The policy Ken Buck has suggested would force students to rely on private loans and extreme interest rates in order to pay tuition, leveraging their future and gambling with their hope of a better life.”

The average private student loan has a 12 percent interest rate, about twice that of the most expensive federal student loan, says the Bennet campaign.

But Buck’s campaign fired back, arguing that Bennet voted against lowering student loans from 6.8 percent to 5.3 percent as part of a motion to the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010.

“This rubber stamp vote might have helped him in his caucus, but it hurt Colorado families,” said Buck campaign spokesman Owen Loftus.

Buck holds a narrow three-point lead over Bennet, according to the latest Rasmussen poll released yesterday.

The Bennet campaign says the U.S. Senator is focused on providing affordable higher education to students. They say federal direct loans offer more flexibility in setting up repayment plans and are more widely available to students of all financial backgrounds.

“The benefits and protections provided by federal loans are virtually non-existent for private loans, and financial experts and student financial aid counselors strongly advise students only to rely on these risky financial products as a last resort when all other sources of aid have been exhausted,” said the Bennet campaign in a policy e-mail. “And for those students unable to obtain private loans, the only recourse would likely be crushing credit card debt.”

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By Peter Marcus, THE DENVER DAILY NEWS
Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper yesterday unveiled his plan for state education reform, promising to replace CSAP testing in his first term if elected.
Standing with his running mate, CSU Pueblo president Joe Garcia, at Arapahoe Community College, Hickenlooper called for a more “modern, useful and timely” student assessment test.
“It’s the 21st century,” said Hickenlooper. “It shouldn’t take months to get test results. We should be able to get results quickly when we test our young people in order to empower our teachers and administrators to adapt.”
Hickenlooper’s education plan also includes:
— Expanding broadband access to integrate mobile learning with classroom-based instruction;
— Supporting public-private efforts to create online courses to supplement core programs;
— Building an online course content library at a secondary level to be shared by districts and schools; and
— Focusing on the importance of planning for postsecondary education.
The Denver mayor also highlighted priorities for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, including:
— Enhancing public-private relationships in higher-ed;
— Increasing flexibility across the state’s higher-ed systems;
— Encouraging public-private collaboration and concurrent enrollment;
— Developing new funds through private sector and federal partnerships; and
— Collaborating with career and technical education, trades apprenticeships and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
“It’s important that we collaborate with all the educational stakeholders — teachers, parents, students and business — to continue to create an improved, 21st-century education system,” said Hickenlooper. “I want to be a leader in making sure we provide the best education system for students.”
Republican opponent Dan Maes’ campaign said yesterday that it is important to maintain CSAP testing because the state needs a tool to measure student progress. Campaign spokesman Nate Strauch said the CSAP will only continue to “evolve.”
Maes himself said in a statement e-mailed to the Denver Daily News that Mayor Hickenlooper is offering “great talking points with no substance.” He then switched his attention to education funding and union involvement.
“Coloradans have heard enough sound bites and we’re sick of politicians whose only solution is to throw more tax dollars at the problem,” said Maes. “We need a governor who will stand up to the teachers’ union and demand that our least effective teachers be removed from the classroom.”
“We need a governor who will work to level the playing field among public, private, charter and home schools to increase competition,” continued Maes. “As governor, I’ll stop banking on the federal government’s handouts, and instead increase the transparency of K-12 budgeting at the state level, so we can see exactly which dollars are being used effectively.”
Strauch suggested that Hickenlooper’s announcement yesterday was an attempt to “pander to the teachers’ union.”
Hickenlooper holds an eight-point lead over Maes thanks to a divide within the Colorado Republican Party over conservative Tom Tancredo’s third-party run on the American Constitution Party ticket.
LaShanda Jones, the parent of a first- and third-grader at Vista PEAK P-8 Exploratory School in Aurora, said she believes Hickenlooper is making education a priority.
“I want to know that our leaders are focused on providing a world-class education to the students in this state,” she said. “That’s why I’m so appreciative that John Hickenlooper has made education a priority for his campaign.”

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

Education funding will remain tight, Democrat John Hickenlooper warned today as he unveiled his plans for education if he’s elected governor.

“We’re not going to throw money at the problem,” the Denver mayor said during a news conference at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton with running mate Joe Garcia, president of Colorado State University-Pueblo. “There is no appetite” among the public for new taxes, Hickenlooper said.

Still, the pair presented a seven-page education policy brief that ranges from testing to teacher improvement to better coordination of the higher education system.

In several places the brief promises to continue and complete education initiatives started by Gov. Bill Ritter and the legislature in the last three years. As befits a campaign document, the brief covers a lot of ground but doesn’t offer detailed specifics.

Despite supporting education reform work that has been done to date, Hickenlooper expressed a note of frustration when he noted there’s “so little to show for it.”

Criticizing the CSAP tests, whose demise was called for in 2008 legislation but which probably won’t be replaced until 2014, Hickenlooper said, “We will do everything we can to give it [the changeover] greater urgency.”

He also called for greater use of online education, more public-private partnerships in education and better coordination and integration of higher education in particular and the whole system in general.

“We have to continue blurring those lines.”

Asked if Garcia would play the same role in education as Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien has played for Ritter, Hickenlooper said, “It’s premature to think about specific roles,” but quickly added, “I’d be a fool not to give him tremendous responsibility and authority.”

Garcia also has been president of Pikes Peak Community College and active in some Ritter-era education reforms, including serving as co-chair of the governor’s P-20 Education Coordinating Council.

“Education is going to be at the core of everything we do,” Hickenlooper said, noting that education consumes more than half the state’s general fund budget.

“I want to be a leader in making sure we provide the best education system for students. The fiscal situation of the state makes it harder to do so, but it is important for our kids and our economy to make sure that Colorado is leading the way in education,” Hickenlooper said.

In addition to campaign workers, reporters and curious students, Hickenlooper’s audience include a group of Colorado Education Association officials, including executive director Tony Salazar, and representatives of the business-based reform group Colorado Succeeds, including President Tim Taylor and board chair Zack Neumeyer. Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver and author of the new educator effectiveness law, and Van Schoales of Education Reform Now also were in the audience.

The CEA-affiliated Public Education Committee gave Hickenlooper’s campaign $5,300 in the reporting period ending July 6.

Hickenlooper’s opponents haven’t yet offered major statements on education.

Republican Don Maes has five paragraphs about the subject on his website, saying, “Reform is an ongoing process and the school leadership must recognize the need for constant improvement. … More competition between schools and transparency in educational funding and results will produce more productive teachers, better students and administrations.”

Maes testified against adoption of the Common Core Standards at a recent State Board of Education meeting.

Renegade Republican Tom Tancredo, now flying the flag of the fringe American Constitution Party, doesn’t mention education on his website. Tancredo was a middle school civics teacher when elected to the legislature in 1976, and he later became regional representative of the U.S. Department of Education under the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Tancredo significantly downsized that office and then went on to be president of the Independence Institute and a congressman.

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Colorado’s failed bid for $175 million in federal Race to the Top funding was hampered by concern about the state’s flat achievement data and fear that union opposition would prevent the spread of reform, Education News Colorado reports.

Evaluators also docked points for what they describe as the state’s vague plans to ensure effective teachers and principals are in the neediest schools.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Tuesday announced winners of the federal grant competition, awarding nearly $3.4 billion to nine states and the District of Columbia. Colorado placed 17th out of 19 applicants for Round 2 of the Race to the Top; the state also was a finalist, but not a winner, in Round 1 of the contest earlier this year.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

Colorado has lost its second bid for $175 million in Race to the Top funds.

According to The Associated Press, U.S. Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton said this morning the winners are Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

Colorado’s application proposed a detailed program for using the money to implement major but unfunded education reforms, including the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids and the new educator effectiveness law.

Lack of federal funding is likely to extend the implementation timetable for those programs further into the future, given that the tight state budget situation will make it difficult to find extra funds for the projects outlined in the R2T application.

State officials were scheduled to meet with reporters later this morning.

The 18 states and the District of Columbia designated as finalists in July included Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and South Carolina. Thirty-six states applied for round two.

Total requests came to $6.2 billion.

Finalists met in person with reviewers two weeks ago. Education Commissioner Dwight Jones said reviewer questions focused on Colorado’s ability to actually implement the reforms it’s proposing (see story).

Delaware and Tennessee were the only two round one winners; the other 14 finalists in that round made the cut in round two.

There were different tiers of possible award amounts based on state populations. Colorado asked for $377 million in the first round, during which tier limitations did not apply.
Details of Colorado’s application

The state’s 193-page application for $175 million pitched Colorado’s history of education reform measures, including the new educator effectiveness law that links student achievement with teacher evaluations.

The bulk of the funds would have been used for implementing new content standards and tests at the district level, creation of new educator evaluation systems, encouraging effective principals and teachers to work in low-performing schools and providing turnaround help for the state’s most struggling schools.

About $90 million of the $175 million would have gone directly to participating districts, as the program requires at least half the funds go to local education agencies.

The department signed memoranda of understanding (formal agreements to participate) with 114 districts and other education agencies, 64 percent of the 180 in the state. Those districts include 89.9 percent of the state’s students, 84 percent of schools and 91 percent of poor students. For the first round application, the state had agreements with districts including about 95 percent of the state’s students. The only two notable non-participants in round two are the Pueblo County and St. Vrain districts.

The Colorado Education Association participated in round one but boycotted round two because of concerns about the educator effectiveness law, SB 10-191, which it opposed. The Colorado unit of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents primarily the Douglas County Schools, signed on to round two.

In broad terms, the state’s application focused on these goals, as required by the federal government:

* Increase student learning through teacher mastery and delivery of common standards and assessments.
* Use, learn, and leverage high quality data to drive increased student performance.
* Ensure all students have access to effective teachers and principals.
* Turn around persistently lowest-achieving schools.

A state also is required to demonstrate how it will build a statewide system of accountability and support to accomplish and sustain those goals.

Colorado’s application promised, by 2014, to increase:

* College enrollment from 62.9 to 70 percent
* College retention from 66.3 to 75 percent
* 4th grade National Assessment of Education Progress math proficiency from 45 to 55 percent
* Higher school graduation rate from 74.6 percent to 90 percent
* 4th grade NAEP reading proficiency from 40 to 60 percent
* 8th grade math NAEP proficiency from 40 to 60 percent
* 8th grade reading NAEP proficiency from 32 to 52 percent
* Overall CSAP math proficiency from 54.5 to 85 percent
* Overall CSAP reading proficiency from 68.3 to 85 percent
* Reduce the achievement gap among all subgroups from 30 to 10 percent
* Those goals raised skepticism in some quarters, but state education leaders argue that Colorado has the infrastructure for reform in place but needs the funds to implement those programs.

Here’s a breakdown of how the state proposed to spend the $175 million:

* $13.6 million – Statewide implementation and administrative costs, primarily at the state Department of Education.
* $13 million – Funding the Content Collaboratives and Regional Support Teams to roll out new content standards and assessments to school districts, creation of an instructional improvement system on the department’s SchoolView website and extra support for small and rural districts.
* $5.8 million – Subsidies and incentives for districts to create and share curricula, for purchase of formative and interim tests and for state review of available interim tests.
* $15.2 million – Build out and support of an expanded SchoolView system, including teacher, principal and administrator portals; expansion of Colorado Growth Model data; and incentives for effective educators to provide instructional materials to others.
* $8 million – Money for state personnel and outside consultants to help districts develop and implement new educator evaluations systems and to identify measures of educator effectiveness, especially in currently untested grades and subjects.
* $5.1 million – Funding for the State Council for Educator Effectiveness and for districts to implement evaluation systems.
* $4.1 million – Development of effective teachers and principals with a focus on low-performing schools, including residency programs, increased numbers of national board certified teachers and hiring of Teach for America members.
* $4.3 million – Expansion of the department’s School Leadership Academy, including a Turnaround Leaders Academy.
* $3.2 million – Expansion of the number of students who take Advanced Placement classes and of the number of under-represented students who take college-prep classes.
* $884,000 – Funding for the department’s existing dropout prevention and student re-engagement program.
* $11 million – Creation of a school Turnaround and Intervention Unit within CDE to help districts conduct successful turnarounds of low-performing schools.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO
Race to the Top reviewers Tuesday pressed Colorado’s delegation for details on how the state can successfully implement its ambitious education reform plans.
Education Commissioner Dwight Jones, interviewed by Education News Colorado after the delegation’s 90-minute meeting with reviewers, said, “I felt good about the session overall. … It seemed like the review panel liked Colorado’s plan and felt it was very ambitious.
“They liked the ambition but had quite a few questions about how you implement it in a local-control state,” Jones added.
Colorado, 17 other states and the District of Columbia were named round-two R2T finalists on July 27, and delegations representing each finalist met with reviewers in Washington this week.
Jones, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, Aurora Superintendent John Barry and Colorado Department of Education executives Nina Lopez and Diana Sirko represented Colorado.
In response to the implementation question, Jones said, “We really kind of stuck to how we outlined it in our plan,” emphasizing the regional support teams, content collaboratives and other structures that Colorado has proposed to implement new standards and tests, improve teacher performance and help struggling schools if the state wins R2T funds.
The bulk of the funds, if Colorado wins a grant, would be used for implementing new content standards and tests at the district level, creation of new educator evaluation systems, encouraging effective principals and teachers to work in low-performing schools and providing turnaround help for the state’s most struggling schools. About half the funds would go to participating school districts.
Colorado was an unsuccessful finalist for round one of R2T last spring and went through a similar interview process. Jones said he felt the first reviewer panel didn’t understand the strategies as well as the second panel did.
Jones also said the second five-member panel “spent a lot of time talking about SchoolView,” the state’s Web data portal. Colorado’s application proposes to rely heavily on SchoolView as a communications tool with districts and teachers.
The panel seemed impressed by the state’s new educator effectiveness law (Senate Bill 10-191), and Jones said O’Brien talked at length about that and other recent reform legislation during Colorado’s presentation. (The delegation had 30 minutes to make its case, followed by an hour of questions from reviewers.)
Jones said the presentation was similar to the pitch CDE leaders made to school districts around the state earlier this summer as they tried to sign up local participants in the state plan.
The reviewers seemed comfortable with the percentage of students represented by participating districts (about 90 percent) but also asked “how this would go with the unions,” Jones said.
The Colorado Education Association supported the state’s first application but boycotted the second because of SB 10-191. The Colorado unit of the American Federation of Teachers supports the second application. Jones said the panel told reviewers CEA has promised to support implementation if Colorado receives a grant.
Asked how the panel felt after the session, Jones aid, “I think the feeling was very cautiously optimistic, [but] it’s anybody’s guess as to what ultimately happens. Praising his team, Jones said, “I really felt like Colorado was well represented at the table.”
Colorado has requested $175 million in R2T funds. About $3.4 billion is available, but the 19 applications total more than $6.2 billion. All finalists scored above 400 on a 500-point scale. Scores may be adjusted up or down following the interviews. Winners are expected to be announced in early September.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS
The Colorado Board of Education yesterday narrowly backed adopting controversial national education standards in language arts and math despite pleas from dozens of citizens not to back the proposal.
Critics say the board’s 4-3 decision to adopt the Common Core Standards will erode local control over education, setting the stage for a national curriculum. Critics also do not believe it was necessary for the board to back the national standards in an effort to better position the state to secure $175 million in federal education grant money.
Supporters, however, say the issue is not just about helping Colorado compete in round two of the Race to the Top federal education grant competition. They say the issue is about helping America compete on a global level.
Federal education officials offered 20 points out of a 500-point scoring system for the Race to the Top competition if states adopt the national standards. Colorado last week was named one of 19 finalists in the second round of the competition.
State Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, an outspoken proponent of education reform at the Capitol, testified yesterday in favor of the national standards. He said following the vote that the issue is about developing assessment systems that allow Colorado to compare its students to the nation and the world.

Saving money?
Johnston said Colorado stands to save about $100 million by adopting the national standards because it won’t have to rebuild the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), an assessment system that is widely believed to be in need of reform.
“The only interest is for us to be able to make better comparisons and learn better about what’s working and what’s not,” said Johnston, who this year spearheaded a successful measure that created some of the toughest teacher tenure reform in the nation.
Supporters say there is nothing in the adoption of the national standards that would compromise local control. They point out that Colorado helped to write the Common Core Standards as a participant on the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. Colorado aligned by about 90 percent with the national standards.
The vote yesterday followed a recommendation from Commissioner of Education Dwight D. Jones, who supported adoption of the Common Core Standards.
Board members Peggy Littleton, R-Colorado Springs, Marcia Neal, R-Grand Junction, and Board Chairman Bob Schaffer, R-Fort Collins, voted against the proposal. Board members Elaine Grantz Berman, D-Denver, Jane Goff, D-Arvada, Angelika Schroeder, D-Boulder, and Board Vice Chairman Randy DeHoff, R-Littleton, supported the proposal.
DeHoff called his vote to support the national standards one of the “most difficult decisions” in his 12 years as a board member.
The board meeting yesterday was open to the public and included 34 speakers. Of the 34 speakers, 30 spoke in opposition to the proposal.
But DeHoff said, “Not one critic has said anything directly critical of the common core.”
“If anything, they strengthen our standards,” he said of the Common Core Standards.

Leading to national curriculum?
Littleton had led the opposition to the proposal, arguing above all that the national standards will limit Colorado’s local control over its schools. She said yesterday following the vote that the move is leading toward a national curriculum.
“I’m disappointed. I just hope that my worst fears about curricular choices don’t come true,” said Littleton. “I hope that we are actually able to maintain a sense of local control with our curriculum in our school districts. Only time will tell.”
“I hope that we didn’t act in haste only to repent at leisure,” she concluded.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

The committee assigned to craft a new strategic plan for Colorado colleges and universities moves into a new phase of its work this week when it sits down to review recommendations from four subcommittees and plan next steps.

The Higher Education Strategic Planning Steering Committee has scheduled a six-hour “retreat” Tuesday at Auraria’s Tivoli Student Union.

The 14-member panel, initially created by Gov. Bill Ritter late last year and then formalized by a 2010 law, hopes to have a report ready for the lame-duck governor and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education by Nov. 4. Before then, the committee hopes to hold a series of meetings around the state and gather comments from the broader higher education community. The steering committee currently is scheduled to meet four more times before Nov. 4.

Four subcommittees have focused on specific issues and have made draft recommendations to the main group.

The subcommittees include both steering committee members and outside experts. The membership of all five groups is heavy on current and former CCHE members, college administrators and business and civic leaders. There are no students, faculty or elected officials on the committees, although there has been some outreach to those groups.

To provide a sense for what the steering committee will be working with, here are highlights of subcommittee recommendations and links to full texts. (Recommendations are those available on the committee’s website as of July 30.) Many will spark tough discussions by the steering committee.

The toughest issues likely will be financial, including suggestions that state support be shifted from the current enrollment-based system and instead be based on the particular needs of individual campuses and/or institutional ability to meet state-mandated goals, like completion rates.

Accessibility Subcommittee

This panel was assigned to develop recommendations concerning to accessibility of higher education for all kinds of students.

It is suggesting a better integrated higher ed system, some revisions in the current “tiered” system of schools based on selectivity, more flexibility in funding of individual schools so as to better support underserved groups of students, increased financial aid, automatic acceptance of qualified students at state schools, easier transfer among campuses, 100 percent financial aid for qualified low-income students and increased efforts to ensure more students complete college.

One implication of the recommendations is the idea that state funding should be concentrated at four-year schools and community colleges, with universities being allowed to rely more on tuition. This likely will be one of the toughest issues facing the steering committee.

• Recommendations (PowerPoint)
• Committee assignment and membership

Mission Subcommittee

This group studied issues of how the state higher ed system should be structured and the appropriate missions of various institutions.

Its recommendations include keeping the current structure of institutional and system boards but giving more power to CCHE, including the ability to allocate money to campuses based on how they meet performance goals set by the commission.

The panel also recommends reallocation of state support to increase enrollment at state colleges that are less selective and that have lower per-student costs.

During discussions in this committee and others it has been repeatedly noted that Colorado higher ed enrollment is unbalanced, with most students concentrated at the lower (community colleges) and higher (universities) ends of the spectrum. There’s smaller enrollment in the middle, at the state’s four-year colleges.

Some of those involved in the planning effort believe that expanding enrollment in those colleges would be a good way to get more underserved students into college.

• Recommendations (PDF)
• Committee assignment and membership

Pipeline Subcommittee

This subcommittee was responsible for issues such as the number of high school grads who don’t continue into postsecondary education and high remediation rates for those who do.

Its recommendations include various ideas to address those problems, including earlier and easier access to college-level courses, improved remediation programs and efforts to get more adult learners into higher education.

• Overall recommendations (PDF); detailed recommendations (Excel)
• Committee assignment and membership

Sustainability Subcommittee

This is the “money” panel, assigned the ticklish task of proposing solutions for higher ed’s daunting financial challenges.

Its proposal include $760 million a year as the minimum, maintenance level of annual state tax support for higher ed, with reasonable future growth; use of performance measures to allocate state funds among colleges; a continued emphasis on efficiency, and local tax support of community colleges.

The group also studied possible new revenue sources for higher ed, including increased income or sales taxes, a services tax, minerals taxes and statewide and local property taxes (summary).

• Recommendations (PDF)
• Committee assignment and membership

The higher education system is at a crossroads because of state revenue pressures that have forced use of federal stimulus funds and increased tuition to compensate for cuts in state support. There’s little question that higher ed will receive less direct state support than the $620.8 million in the current budget, and cuts could be deeper.

Colorado has a long history of committees studying the future of higher education but a mixed record of implementing their recommendations. Studies were done for 1993-98, in 2001-02 and in 2003.

The 2010 steering committee’s ultimate recommendations will be launched into an uncertain political and financial future.

The panel’s creator, Ritter, leaves office in January, and the November elections could change the composition and even control of the legislature. If state revenue problems don’t ease, broader financial issues could overshadow discussion of higher ed’s future.

And any new tax revenues for colleges and universities or a broader state fiscal fix would require voter approval.

While a number of civic groups and policymakers have talked about crafting a proposal for the 2011 November ballot, no specific proposals have been floated. The exception is two 2011 ballot titles filed under the auspices of the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. Among other provisions, they would lower state sales taxes but extend that tax to services and create a graduated income tax structure.

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Colorado education officials have been ignoring a law intended to “flag” the arrests of teachers and then alert all school districts and charter schools across the state, a Coloradoan investigation has found.

The 2008 law requires the Colorado Department of Education to issue an alert every time a licensed educator is arrested. The arrest information is provided by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

But a Coloradoan investigation shows CDE officials have largely ignored the law since it was passed, arguing that they didn’t have enough money to implement it. Within days of the Coloradoan inquiring about the situation, CDE officials said they planned to start following the law. They couldn’t provide a specific timeline.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

Before Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law a dramatic overhaul of Colorado’s long-standing teacher evaluation system, he reached out to the many educators who fought to kill it.

Leaders of the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union, which lobbied against Senate Bill 191 with rallies and radio ads, did not attend the crowded signing ceremony in the west foyer of the Capitol.

“From the time I began running for office, the Colorado Education Association has been supportive of our efforts and a … partner in reform,” Ritter said. “I understand that they considered Senate Bill 191 a bridge too far.

“But I think the teachers and principals who work in our classrooms every day are going to understand we are going to provide them greater tools for success … And over time we’re going to get to the place where we’re working together toward that goal.”

CEA President Beverly Ingle released a statement after the signing that pledged the 40,000-member union is “committed to doing everything we can to make sure the law is implemented correctly.”

“We are pleased that some of the changes we suggested to the bill were included but we still have a number of concerns,” Ingle said. “We will do what’s right for the teachers and the students of Colorado.”

Brenda Smith, president of the smaller union in Colorado, the American Federation of Teachers, testified in support of the bill and was there for Thursday’s signing.

Smith issued a statement saying AFT Colorado “worked in collaboration with the bill’s sponsors to improve the measure so that teacher evaluation systems will be good for kids and fair to teachers.”

“Some so-called reformers want to dictate change from the outside – an approach that almost always fails,” Smith said. “Then you have change agents who say: Let’s work together and figure things out … that’s what happened with this legislation in Colorado.”

State Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, the bill’s primary author, singled out Ritter, state education Commissioner Dwight Jones and Christine Scanlan, the bill’s Democratic House sponsor, for thanks. Scanlan successfully navigated the schism in her party over education reform to secure enough votes to pass the bill while Jones was an early and public advocate.

Johnston said he woke one morning to a phone ”exploding” with text messages about Jones’ surprise endorsement of the bill in the Denver Post. That letter prompted the CEA to withhold support of the state’s Race to the Top grant application.

“It would have been very easy for you to stay out of this bill,” Johnston told Jones.

As for Ritter, Johnston said meeting the governor helped convince him to leave his principal’s job for political office.

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it,” the freshman lawmaker said. ”It wasn’t until we met that … I think we both believe this really was a noble and honest calling where good people try to get good things done.”

Despite the celebratory air, the hugs and congratulations, several speakers said much of the work lies ahead. Today, members of the Governor’s Council for Educator Effectiveness, charged with defining teacher and principal effectiveness, will meet for the first time since the bill passed.

And Johnston went straight from the signing ceremony to O’Connell Middle School in Lakewood, where he met with about 25 teachers curious about what the new law means for them. See EdNews’ blog about the meeting.

He said before he left that he sees S.B. 191 as the first step in a two-part process: Part 1 is restoring the public’s confidence in education. Part 2 is asking that public to better support schools through a funding increase expected on the state ballot in 2011.

“The work we are about to begin will enable Colorado to lead in this national movement” of education reform, Jones said. “What is required in this bill is hard work. But this is the right work.”

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