A handful of bills under consideration this year could put Colorado at the head of the class for an estimated $500 million federal grant to encourage school innovation, Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien told lawmakers Wednesday.
Dubbed “Race to the Top,” a federal program created through the new stimulus package would award an unknown number of top-ranked states a combined $4.35 billion to support reforms such as student progress tracking and teacher incentives.
Colorado already has started on a number of projects that make it a top contender, O’Brien said.
“Years of working on our education system have really made us a national model,” O’Brien said.
“Other states ask how we knew to get where we are,” she quipped. “I usually make something up to make it sound like we knew where we were headed.”
Waiting for details
While state officials have a general idea what the U.S. Department of Education is looking for, many details — such as how many states will receive money or how they will be ranked — won’t be available until May.
State Education Commissioner Dwight Jones thinks several legislative bills could help Colorado’s chances, especially when combined with reforms to state educational standards and efforts to boost graduation rates already underway.
House Bill 1065 would assign an identification number to every teacher in participating districts. The goal is to track where the most effective teachers went to school, where they teach and which teachers may need additional help.
One set of standards
Another key bill would align local, state and federal education standards so schools are following one set of rules statewide. Senate Bill 163 has been sent to appropriations.
Also singled out Wednesday was House Bill 1319, which would allow high school students to begin earning college credit before they graduate.
The governor-backed bill has not yet come up in a committee.
Race to the Top is part of the larger stimulus package passed by Congress. Colorado already is in line to get more than $1 billion to restore slashed school and college budgets and fund new programs, the governor’s office estimates.
About $136 million of those dollars will be spent at Gov. Bill Ritter’s discretion.
Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said Wednesday that the state must spend carefully.
“This is like my family or yours winning the Powerball,” Spence told the Senate Education Committee. The state had better be sure to spend the money “in a way that . . . best uses these stimulus dollars.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
