DENVER—Gov. Bill Ritter appointed a 32-member panel on Tuesday to study education reform, including options for improving education from preschool through graduate school.
The governor appointed Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, businessman Bruce Benson and Colorado State University at Pueblo President Joe Garcia to be co-chairs.
“We’ve assembled some of the best minds in Colorado to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time: How we can better educate our children so they can succeed in a competitive 21st century work force,” Ritter said.
The governor established the P-20 Education Coordinating Council by executive order in April to carry out a campaign promise to cut the state’s high school dropout rate by half within 10 years and increase the number of college graduates. Ritter said he expects a report by the end of November.
Ritter said he wants to set up an “education highway” that eases the transition from grade to grade and makes sure graduates have the education they need to succeed.
In his Jan. 11 inaugural address, Ritter noted that about 30 percent of Colorado high school students don’t graduate. Less than half of the state’s black, Latino and American Indian students complete high school.
The governor called for more slots for preschool programs. He also noted that Colorado ranks 49th in the country in per capita dollars directed to higher education.
Higher education’s portion of the state budget dropped from nearly 15 percent in 1997 to 10 percent this year.
