...employers of tomorrow. As our world becomes ever smaller, we must realize that our students are competing for jobs not only with their peers in Colorado and across our nation, but also with students from Europe, Asia and elsewhere in the world.

Research shows that to make our children more competitive in the global economy we must improve our state’s education system in some key areas:

• The Colorado School Finance Project reports (based on Publisher Morgan Quitno’s 2004-2005 data) that Colorado spends an average of $6,884 per pupil. The national average was $7,701.
• The Colorado Department of Education reported that in 2004-2005 more than 16,000 children dropped out of school (4.2% dropout rate). Of those, 2600 were in Denver (a dropout rate of 7.2%).
• A study by The Donnell-Kay Foundation estimates that the infrastructure needs of schools statewide total 6 to $10 billion.
• Great Education Colorado reports that Colorado ranks 45th to 49th nationally in the percentage of the state's wealth directed to funding K-12 public schools.

What can we do to improve and appropriately fund our schools in Colorado and ensure that our students will be ready and able to compete in a global economy?

Continued and increasing access to pre-school – We know that preschool helps prepare children to learn – they gain important social skills and the ECE experience sets the stage for learning in years to come. Research by the Piton Foundation shows that school districts can save $11,000 for each child that attends a quality early childhood education program due to decreased special education and remediation costs. We are making gains in this area, but we must continue to work to fully fund early childhood slots.

Full day kindergarten for all children – Children in full-day kindergarten, versus half-day programs, are improving their capacity to learn. The Colorado Children’s Campaign’s 2007 Kid’s Count reports that children in all day programs make more significant gains in reading and math assessments. This issue has been on the table for years and I believe we need to make full-day kindergarten for all children a reality.

Smaller class size – As class sizes in our urban and suburban schools often exceed 30 students and teachers are stretched to meet the students’ diverse needs, it’s no wonder the level of learning isn’t where we would like it to be. The cost associated with reducing the class sizes in our schools is incredibly high, but the gains prove to be significant. I would like to explore ways to reduce the number of students in K-3rd grade classes. I’d also like to explore the possibility of relieving some of the class-size stress by providing incentives to districts that are willing to hire additional educators (paraprofessionals or interns) to assist teachers with large classes.

Quality Teaching – Colorado, through its statewide assessment program, CSAP, and a curriculum and culture that now “teaches to the test,” has made it difficult for teachers to do what they do best – teach. The focus in the classroom has turned from how to help each child achieve his or her educational goals (using CSAP as an indicator), to what a teacher must do to increase the CSAP school rating. It’s time to refocus our efforts and resources toward supporting our teachers in serving the individual learning styles of their students.

CSAP – The CSAP program was designed to measure an individual student’s progress in achieving the educational standards set at the state level. Unfortunately, we turned an individual assessment into a tool to “rate” a school. We need to revisit the original intent of the assessments, ask the testing company to determine in what way the assessment is valid for educators and to use the information appropriately. Finally, we need to reevaluate how CSAP is used in our statewide accountability process.

Balancing the need for more funds with accountability – When facing the issue of improving education in our state, the emphasis is either on more money, or using our current resources more wisely. We need a combination of both. We need to recognize that we are not “keeping up with the Joneses” in our funding of schools. We need to add resources in specific areas, such as Kindergarten, ECE and class size, and begin to fund areas where we know we can get “a bigger bang for the buck.” Finally, we need to closely examine all the education laws currently on the books and determine if some should be removed or consolidated to make our system more efficient.

Dropout prevention – The Colorado Commission on High School Improvement (CCHSI) – a diverse, bipartisan group of state and local leaders brought together in 2004 by the Colorado Children’s Campaign – reported that high school graduation rates across the state are only 70 percent (based on students who entered the ninth grade in the fall of 2000 and graduated in 2004). The Commission also found that high school graduation rates among Colorado’s minority students are even worse.

The commission highlights a number of ways that districts can address the dropout issue including the need better allocate new and existing resources, including funding. In addition, Governor Ritter’s P-20 Education Coordinating Council is addressing dropout prevention by researching best practices and proven strategies that can help tackle this pressing problem. I would support legislation, if appropriate, to implement these best practices. [..hide..]

...the middle, trying to figure out what is covered, what is not covered and how much a service really costs. And, to compound the complexity, with each visit of an uninsured person to an emergency room, we see costs to providers and to the insured increase.

During the 2006 legislative session, the Colorado Legislature passed a bill to study and establish healthcare reform models for expanding coverage – especially for the underinsured, uninsured and those at risk of financial hardship due to medical expenses. In addition, their mission is to decrease healthcare costs for Coloradans. The Commission, nicknamed the 208 Commission, solicited proposals to address health care reform in Colorado. In public meetings, 208 Commission members tell us that 785,000 Coloradans (180,000 of them children) are uninsured. That number constitutes 17% of our population and is higher than the national average. We also know that a great number of individuals are “underinsured,” meaning that while they may carry health insurance, it may cover only a catastrophic illness. The Commission also tells us that the number one cause of bankruptcy in this country is medical bills. Most people are labeling this situation a crisis, and I agree.

I have been meeting with individuals and groups that are committed to finding solutions to our healthcare crisis. The good news is that healthcare reform is at the forefront for all the stakeholders including patients, doctors, insurance companies and government. All of the groups are generating ideas and proposals for addressing the healthcare needs of Coloradans. These solutions will take serious negotiation and compromise by all parties and I am committed to working with all the stakeholders to attack healthcare reform head-on.

We have to start somewhere in dealing with this difficult issue.

First, we must all begin to think and talk about health care in a different way. We must move from the notion that health care is a "benefit" to the belief that health care is a “public good.” We need to focus on an individual having “access” to a system and not “insurance” against sickness. Just as we expect our population to have access to education and be well educated, we must have the expectation that our population will have access to health care and be healthy. Health and education are key to a thriving economy and society.

Second, we must disconnect health care from employment. Following the second World War many businesses offered health care “benefits” to entice people to work for them. This made sense when people worked for the same company for most of their adult life. Today, however, people change jobs frequently, work as independent contractors or consultants and don’t have the “benefit” of employer based health care. The access point for health care should not be an employer.

This fundamental shift in thinking, however, will not likely come in the immediate future. We are, therefore, left with developing measures in the short term to provide more health care access for the uninsured and underinsured and provide better services to those who are insured.

We need to start with the 785,000 Coloradans who are uninsured. Four of the five proposals reviewed by the 208 commission included recommendations to expand Medicaid and the Children’s Health Plan Plus (CHP+) to cover uninsured at 200% to 300% of the Federal Poverty Level – and I agree. I also believe that we must take a hard look at how we administer the Medicaid and CHP+ program to find ways to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the program. Strides were made during the 2008 legislative session to provide access to 50,000 more children. This is a good start, but we must do more. Finally, I support the concept of an “exchange” or insurance purchasing pool that will provide uninsured individuals and small businesses access to reasonably-priced and, possibly subsidized, insurance plans.

Improve access and coverage for underemployed and underinsured Coloradans. For now we depend on employers to provide access to health care for many individuals. While many companies will continue to offer healthcare benefits, we need a way for individuals who work without this benefit to have access to health insurance. The concept of an "exchange" that provides a menu of health insurance plans should help address this issue.

Improve efficiency and cost effectiveness for the insured. When I talk with individuals who do have health insurance, they often highlight how difficult it is to unravel the medical billing process. If you have had a catastrophic illness or simply a blood test, most agree that finding the true cost of any service is next to impossible. I believe that we need to ask insurance companies to provide more transparency when it comes to billing and cost of service.[..hide..]

...we have an obligation to provide more for the future than we are on course to do. My current lifestyle, and that of most Americans, is compromising our air, land, water—and climate.

After years of research by climate scientists worldwide, it is now clear that human activities—namely the burning of fossil fuels—are causing the planet to warm. Colorado will experience direct effects from global warming, such as less snow pack, declining water supply, shorter ski seasons, longer summers, and more frequent and intense forest fires.1 Confronting climate change is a big challenge, but it is one we must face in order to ensure that future generations of Coloradans—and indeed future generations everywhere on the planet—inherit a rich natural environment. This is the idea of sustainable development—that we should be able to meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

With the creation of Governor Ritter’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and the recent bills passed in the Colorado General Assembly, our state is making strides toward sustainable energy use and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. I support Governor Ritter’s efforts to confront climate change as laid out in the Climate Action Plan. It also calls for Colorado to join 16 other states who have adopted tougher vehicle emissions standards than the federal government requires.

A legislature that is committed to environmental sustainability offers an enormous opportunity to pass two types of legislation to meet these goals. First, we should implement short-term actions to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency. These types of policies can be relatively inexpensive and often do not require large-scale shifts away from a fossil fuel-based economy. Such short-term emissions reductions and energy efficiency improvements can include promoting more efficient light bulbs, reducing demand for electricity, improving industrial efficiency, updating building codes, and greening state government so that it leads by example.

Second, the Colorado Legislature should lay the foundation for the state to make deeper emissions cuts in the future and meet the goals for 2050. We cannot reach these long-term emissions goals through energy efficiency and short-term policies alone. Deeper cuts will require a fundamental shift toward a low-carbon energy infrastructure over the long-term. Promoting cleaner energy technologies, such as wind, solar and biofuels, will improve our ability to make carbon emissions cuts in the future.

Another initiative that will help us meet our long-term climate goals is the creation and funding of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory—a collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Colorado’s three research universities. I support this and other opportunities to accelerate the development of alternative energy technologies.

Meanwhile, we need to continue "the buzz" about the importance of changing our behaviors. And most importantly, each of us needs to change our resource-wasting habits to help preserve our fragile environment. [..hide..]

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1 Colorado Climate Action Plan [..return..]