LITTLETON, COLO. -- John Hickenlooper and Joe Garcia outlined their education plan Monday, including plans to push replacing the Colorado Student Assessment Program with a more modern, useful and timely assessment test by the end of their first term if Hickenlooper is elected governor.
“Without a strong education system, job creation and economic development cannot be sustained,” Hickenlooper said. “There is no question Colorado’s budget challenges will require difficult decisions in education, but the next administration must make education a top priority and lead a collaborative effort to improve the way our students learn.”
Hickenlooper’s education plan calls for greater participation in concurrent enrollment programs to increase college participation. It also includes providing students and teachers with 21st century infrastructure, improving transparency in school districts to hold leaders accountable, pushing public-private participation, and decreasing the state’s Hispanic achievement gap in graduation in order to prepare Colorado’s students for the modern job market.
“Improving education in the current environment will require leadership and collaboration that examines Colorado’s education system across every level,” Hickenlooper said. “Making Colorado synonymous with innovation has to include supporting great teachers and engaging parents and communities as partners to improve our schools.”
Hickenlooper and Garcia were joined by education advocates, business leaders, teachers and parents at Arapahoe Community College to make their education plan announcement.
“I want to know that our leaders are focused on providing a world-class education to the students in this state,” said LaShanda Jones, who has two children in Aurora Public Schools. “That’s why I’m so appreciative that John Hickenlooper has made education a priority for his campaign.”
Dorian DeLong, a teacher from Thornton High School said he was excited by Hickenlooper’s pick for Lt. Governor.
“I’m glad to hear John hickenlooper has a vision to support our schools from Kindergarten through higher education,” DeLong said. “If there was any question of whether education was a priority to this team – Joe is the answer.”
Garcia said he agreed to run on the ticket because Hickenlooper has made education a priority.
“Valuable work has already been done to review the way we educate our young people,” said Garcia, who is president of Colorado State University-Pueblo and co-chair of Gov. Bill Ritter's P-20 Education Coordinating Council. “If elected, John and I hope to stand on the shoulders of those who have committed themselves so diligently to finding a sustainable way to ensure Colorado is a national leader in education.”
As part of that effort, Hickenlooper committed to carrying out an effort underway that would overhaul the Colorado Student Assessment Program.
“It’s the 21st century,” Hickenlooper said. “It shouldn’t take months to get test results. We should be able to get results quickly when we test our young people in order to empower our teachers and administrators to adapt.”
Hickenlooper’s education plan includes a comprehensive and integrated approach to education, beginning with early childhood education and moving seamlessly though higher education. He called for more transparency in schools with effective governance and utilizing technology to connect students around the state to the best programs. His plan includes:
- Expanding broadband access statewide to allow greater access to the web and share best practices about innovative and effective ways to integrate mobile learning with classroom-based instruction.
- Supporting public and private education providers to collaborate and create highly flexible and relevant online courses that can be accessed affordably by schools and districts and used to supplement and/or enrich their “bricks and mortar” (capital) programs.
- Building a high quality and accessible on-line course content library at a secondary level using the best teachers and classrooms in the state. Content is shared at little to no added cost to districts and schools.
- Ensuring that students and families understand the importance for planning for postsecondary readiness and success and provide access to relevant Career and Technical courses for all students.
For higher education, Hickenlooper calls for the role of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and its policies to focus on improving access and student achievement. Priorities include:
- Employing existing innovations and improve efficiencies in the system through partnerships between public and private colleges and universities.
- Creating more flexibility across our higher education systems.
- Encouraging public-private collaboration and concurrent enrollment.
- Directing new funds through private sector and federal partnerships.
- Collaborating with career and technical education, trades apprenticeships and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.
Given budget constraints, improving education in Colorado is not an easy task and there are no easy solutions. Yet in talking with students, families, teachers, administrators and education experts in the field throughout the state, Hickenlooper and Garcia know Colorado has an opportunity to do better. They are committed to working in close partnership with Colorado teachers, principals, elected officials and community members to create an education system for students that will make them competitive in a global economy.
“It’s important that we collaborate with all the educational stakeholders – teachers, parents, students and business – to continue to create an improved, 21st century education system,” Hickenlooper said. “I want to be a leader in making sure we provide the best education system for students. The fiscal situation of the state makes it harder to do so, but it is important for our kids and our economy to make sure that Colorado is leading the way in education.”
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