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The Senate's grand compromise on Senate Bill 08-130 held in the House Education Committee Thursday, which approved the bill 9-4.
The bill, sponsored by Senate President Peter Groff and House Assistant Majority Leader Terrence Carroll, both Denver Democrats, and Republicans Sen. Nancy Spence of Centennial and Rep. Rob Witwer of Golden, would create a clear process for schools, groups of schools and districts to follow if they want waivers from state laws and regulations or terms of union contracts.
It's possible for schools to get such waivers now, but it's difficult, as the experience of Denver's Bruce Randolph School showed.
As introduced, the bill raised alarm in teachers' union circles. But, amendments brokered by Senate Education Chair Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, brought every education group into line behind the bill. The amendments were meant to ensure teacher pension and due-process rights and to require broad support within schools before they seek waivers. The bill passed Senate Education 7-0 and received final Senate floor approval 35-0.
Given the momentum behind the bill, defeat in House Ed wasn't considered likely, but it was expected the bill would get a cooler reception. The committee has a strong contingent of Democratic former educators, some of whom take a skeptical view of tinkering with traditional school structures.
The tone of Thursday's hearing definitely was different from that of the Senate committee hearing on Feb. 21. House committee members asked questions about whether the bill really was needed, given that such waivers are possible under existing law. That issue was mentioned only briefly in Senate Ed. Some House committee members also asked if there was much demand for the bill by school districts. And, some members who voted "yes" Thursday still expressed reservations about the bill.
Carroll and Witwer pitched the bill as a way to improve education by empowering principals and teachers. It's "an opportunity for faculty and principals to have autonomy - local control in the best sense of the term," Witwer said.
The sponsors and several witnesses said the bill is needed to provide a standardized way for all schools and districts to seek waivers, as opposed to the cumbersome and sometimes-confrontational way the process now works.
There were 14 witnesses, 13 in favor of the bill. The Education Committee regulars supported it - the Colorado Association of School Executives, the Colorado Education Association, the state Department of Education, the Colorado Children's Campaign and the Colorado Association of School Boards. Representatives of Padres Unidos, Common Good Colorado and Colorado Succeeds also spoke in favor of the bill.
Tim Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, a national non-profit that trains and recruits teachers, said such flexibility is needed to "the dysfunctional hiring patterns" of many school districts.
But the stars of the witness show were administrators, teachers, parents and students from Bruce Randolph, the northeast Denver middle-high school that fought hard last year for various waivers so that it could build the kind of teaching teams, programs and extra services it felt it needed for its largely low-income and minority students.
Principal Kristin Waters told her school's story and said the bill will allow other schools "to do this without going through our ordeal."
Parent Rosali Miramontes, said she was so impressed by Bruce Randolph that she brings her two children daily from Thornton.
No amendments were made to the bill.
Voting "yes" were chair Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs; Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma; Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs; Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora; Rep. Cherylin Peniston, D-Westminster; Rep. Christine Scanlan, D-Dillion; Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood; Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, and Witwer.
Massey, Middleton and Todd expressed some concerns before casting their votes, ranging from the financial support needed to foster innovation to the need for principal training.
Voting "no" were Reps. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada; Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood; Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose, and Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton. Only Benefield spoke before the vote, saying she didn't feel the bill would help foster the kind of collaborative school communities that really are needed for innovation.
The bill was sent to Appropriations because it has an $80,545 price tag for administrative costs in the state Department of Education.
The Education Committee Thursday also voted 13-0 to pass Senate Bill 08-181, which would create programs to help schools get staff training in responding to school emergencies, based on the federal National Incident Management System.
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