DENVER—Lawmakers may consider a plan to abolish two state boards and merge two state departments to help smooth students’ path from kindergarten through college.
The plan would eliminate the Board of Education and the Commission on Higher Education, and consolidate the departments that separately oversee public K-12 schools and state colleges and universities.
The Legislative Council, made up of top lawmakers from both parties, voted Tuesday to have an interim committee study the proposal sometime after the Legislature adjourns next month.
The proposal has a long path ahead of it. The full House and Senate must agree to set up the interim committee, which would then have to craft a bill to be introduced in the Legislature next year. If the bill passes the Legislature, it would have to go before the voters.
Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, said streamlining and consolidating education agencies would help the state meet its goal of coordinating education from beginning to end.
“We’ve asked the departments to coordinate their systems more, to align their curriculum more. This is not a new idea,” he told legislative leaders.
David Skaggs, executive director of state Department of Higher Education, which oversees colleges and universities, said there is no need to consolidate the departments and abolish the boards.
He said that would weaken local control of education, which he called “an article of faith” in Colorado
Pamela Jo Suckla, chairwoman of the state Board of Education, which oversees K-12 education, did not return phone calls for comment.
Weissmann said the work done by the boards could be done by other agencies.
He said he has studied the issue for years and that his proposal isn’t based on recent criticism that the Board of Education is spending excessively and letting teachers keep their licenses despite felony convictions.
The seven-member board’s duties include teacher licensing and discipline, accrediting schools and making recommendations to the Legislature on education policy. Members are elected by congressional district.
The 10-member Commission on Higher Education, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, reviews and approves degree programs, establishes the formula for distributing state funding, recommends funding levels to the Legislature, establishes admission standards, approves construction requests and administers financial aid programs.
The commission was established in 1965 to replace an association which met informally to consider higher education matters.
Gov. Bill Ritter and a bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled an education reform plan last month that lays the groundwork for having a preschool-through-college system set standards and determine the best way to test whether they’re being met.
The Legislative Council voted for a second interim committee that would study the pine beetle infestation that is devastating Colorado forests. It too requires approval from the full House and Senate.
