Welcome to this week’s edition of Capitol Week in Review, a weekly update on education policy at the Capitol!
Legislative Update
HB22-1064 Prohibit Flavored Tobacco, which would prohibit flavored tobacco, passed in the House Finance Committee and was referred to Appropriations.
HB22-1220 Removing Barriers to Educator Preparation, which will remove barriers in educator preparation to support educator candidates entering the workforce, was referred back to House Education Committee for technical amendments and passed 6 – 3.
HB22-1260 Access To Medically Necessary Services For Students, which will allow students to access medically-necessary services in the school setting, was laid over in the House Education Committee.
SB22-004 Evidence Based Training in the Science of Reading, which will ensure principals and administrators who oversee K-3 teachers will be trained in the science of reading passed out of the Senate and will now be heard by the House Education Committee.
SB22-008 Higher Education Support For Foster Youth, which will give children in foster care who were placed out of Colorado the undergraduate tuition rate, was rescheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on April 14.
SB22-127 Special Education Funding, which would increase funds for each child who receives special education funding to $1,750 (rather than the current $1250) and require the amount to increase by the rate of inflation each budget year beginning with the 2024-25 school year, is scheduled to be heard in the House Education Committee on April 13.
SB22-171 Privacy Protections For Educators, which will prevent teachers from being doxed, scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on April 14.
Our Take
We are incredibly pleased to see broad, bipartisan support for Senate Bill 22-004. Like teachers, principals and administrators should also be trained with research-based knowledge of how students learn to read so that they can support teachers in effectively utilizing the science of reading and now we are one step closer to that reality.
We cannot say it any better than special education teacher, Laura Haller said in her testimony,
“Imagine a world where every single adult in the building knew how to teach scholars how to read using the science of reading. It would mean that principals and assistant principals could coach early elementary teachers to use evidence-based instructional practices. It would mean fulfilling the promise we’ve made to parents that schools would teach their scholars how to read.”
Take Action
Senate Bill 22-004 will now be heard in the House and lawmakers need to hear from you!
Will you take a minute to ask members of the House Education Committee to support SB22-004?
With your help, we can be one step closer to ensuring principals and administrators are equipped with the training needed to support educators in teaching students how to read!
TELL LAWMAKERS TO SUPPORT SB22-004!
More Information
Colorado Education Bill Tracker 2022, Chalkbeat
