Education council will ‘breed ideas’

DENVER - Gov. Bill Ritter signed an executive order Tuesday creating the centerpiece of his education-reform platform: A panel to examine alignment issues and potential changes from pre-school through graduate school.

The P-20 Education Council, when appointed, will be asked to look at 11 topics, including expansion of early childhood education, reduction of the number of drop-outs and improvement in transitions between high school and college. It will report to the governor and the Legislature, though no time frame has been established.

A number of legislators this year have proposed reforms such as statewide math and science requirements, but Ritter has said such ideas may have unintended consequences unless they are considered as part of a bigger picture. The panel’s job will be to look at all areas of the educational spectrum and determine how they can work in harmony to produce a better public-school system in Colorado, he said.

“We will do what we can to use this council to breed ideas,” the governor said at a morning signing ceremony.

Other topics specifically listed in the scope of the panel:

- Establishing competency expectations in English, math and science;

- Developing innovative options for retaining and graduating college students;

- Improving recruiting and retention of quality teachers.

Ritter emphasized that the panel will focus on reform and should not bog down over funding ideas. But he listed “examining appropriate levels and potential sources of funding” as one of the group’s mission points because that gives it the legal ability to suggest funding if it needs to, spokesman Evan Dreyer said.

The signing was done with a bipartisan group of legislators present and with college presidents, school-district superintendents and teachers in the audience. Antwan Wilson, president of Montbello High School in Denver, said the panel will encourage efforts that he and others have begun to make the transition to college easier.

But Rep. Rob Witwer, R-Golden, questioned later whether issues like the math and science requirements that have been killed by Democrats will get consideration by the panel. Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, said he worries the panel will be like past commissions that have made recommendations only to see them ignored.

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