Education and the 2011 Colorado legislative session

Many in education are hoping 2011 will be the first Colorado legislative session in three years without a “big” education reform bill, but that doesn’t seem to mean that it won’t be a busy session for K-12 schools and the state’s colleges and universities.

The last three legislative sessions have seen a flurry of major bills on testing and standards, school accountability, teacher pensions, higher education finances and educator evaluations.

Many lawmakers and interest groups hope 2011 will provide a legislative break so that state and local education leaders can focus on digesting and implementing the initiatives of the last three years.

The budget, a top issue in past sessions, can’t be avoided this year either. A major topic of debate will be how to minimize inevitable cuts to state support for K-12 schools and to spending on colleges and universities.  – More -