Rep. Kevin Priola has introduced his promised bill to create a pilot program that would give financial incentives to highly effective teachers who work in struggling schools.
The bill was introduced Tuesday, the same day that Priola joined the 2015 session. He’s been out while recovering from a skiing accident. The Henderson Republican tried a similar bill last session, but it didn’t gain traction. He’s hoping for better luck this year.
Among other education bills introduced in the last couple of days are Republican measures designed to protect student data and another bill to pull Colorado out of the Common Core State Standards.
Also introduced Tuesday was a measure intended to help boards of cooperative educational services take over some administrative functions for small school districts and charter schools. District consolidation is considered a nonstarter in Colorado for various political, geographical, and financial reasons. The new bill seeks to deal in a different way with some of the challenges faced by small districts.
Here’s a quick look at the latest education bills:
House Bill 15-1199 – Comprehensive Republican bill on privacy of student data, including a requirement that most individual student data be destroyed after five years of graduation. Prime sponsors: Rep. Justin Everett, R-Littleton; Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins
House Bill 15-1200 – Establishes a pilot program to create incentives for highly effective teachers to teach in low-performing schools. Prime sponsor: Rep. Kevin Priola, R-Henderson; Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs
House Bill 15-1201 – Creates a $500,000-a-year grant program for boards of cooperative educational services to provide centralized administrative services to small districts and charter schools that choose to use such services. Prime sponsors: Reps. Bob Rankin, R-Carbondale, and John Buckner, D-Aurora; Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora
House Bill 15-1208 – Would take Colorado out of the Common Core State Standards, require adoption of new state standards and new Colorado tests and give districts some flexibility in choice of tests. Prime sponsor: Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt, R-Colorado Springs.
Use the Education Bill Tracker for links to bill texts, sponsor information, fiscal notes and much more detail about every 2015 education bill.