Legislative Communication

Maintain a strong relationship with our legislative leaders through direct meetings with the Board of Education, superintendent, his administrative staff, district lobbyist, and key district committees, e.g., District Accountability Committee. Confer with other school district leaders with similar concerns and legislative agendas.

Governance 
Support legislation that reinforces the role and constitutional authority of the Board of Education for the:

• leadership of the learning environment 
• design and implementation of student achievement assessment and reporting system  
• implementation of curriculum 
• configuration of school facilities 
• selection of textbooks and materials 
• instructional delivery 
• decision-making for local choice options 
• health and wellness of students and employees 
• staffing 
• creation of necessary programs, which create a safe and academically rich opportunity for its students, and 
• generation and allocation of the resources necessary to accomplish its vision, mission and goals.

Student Achievement and Accountability

• Support legislation ensuring that any school, funded in-whole or in-part with public funds, meet the requirements of state accountability, accreditation, and assessment standards.
   
• Advocate for continued funding of preschool and full day kindergarten and increases in funding through the school finance act.
   
• Support on-going efforts that align No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and School Accountability Reports (SARS) with a single accountability system with a measure of student longitudinal growth.
   
• Support legislation of a comprehensive plan for public preK–20 education. This legislation should include multiple student pathways and changes to funded pupil counts that may not be based solely on classroom time.
   
• Support on-going efforts to streamline and reduce the amount of data school districts are required to provide that is not directly linked to student achievement.
   
• Continue to advocate for online learning standards.
   
• Advocate for a rule change that would provide for a calculation that would improve the meaning of reported drop-out rate calculations. This change may include broadening the definition of “adequate documentation” of student transfers and inclusion of graduate equivalency diploma (GED).

Quality Personnel

• Support legislation that reinforces the ability of local boards of education to work on behalf of the community and employees to recruit, retain, and structure compensation systems which are sensitive to performance and the current labor market.
   
• Support legislation that improves the process for teacher contract renewal and employment rights.
   
• Advocate for legislation that improves continuous professional and personal development of all employees.
   
• Support legislation that allows for local implementation flexibility of the educator effectiveness requirements.

School Finance Funding

• Support continued efforts for local financial control guaranteed by the constitution. Student based budgeting formulas, including at risk components of funding, should not be prescribed to districts. School boards must be able to develop their own plan for expenditures of revenue based on the unique needs and circumstance of their district and students.
   
• Advocate for a state wide tax structure to support funding levels to K–12 and higher education that would provide for adequate education funding.
   
• Support legislative efforts to enhance the adequacy of per pupil public education funding levels. Modifications to the school finance per pupil revenue base, factors, and student count averaging should not negatively impact funding to any school district.
   
• Support legislation that halts the practice of double-reserving the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) funds, i.e., 3 percent of school district total program funding held in reserve at both the state and at the district level.
   
• Support legislation that increases funding for district capital needs and technology infrastructure costs.
   
• Monitor and advocate for the actuarial capacity of the State’s Education Fund to effectively finance adequate annual increases in per pupil funding.
   
• Encourage and support legislation that alleviates conflicting fiscal state constitutional amendments: TABOR, Amendment 23, and the Gallagher Amendment.
   
• Support legislation that maintains an equitable local share of program funding.
   
• Support legislation that increases funding for categorical programs including special education, transportation, English language learners, career and technical education.
   
• Support legislation that:

√ accurately accounts for the excess cost of disabled student education.
√ provides funding to offset the impact on a district’s per pupil funding to account for special education.
√ avoids shifting further burden of excess costs onto school districts.

• Encourage and support legislation that new nutritional, physical activities, physical education, and wellness mandates include additional funding.

Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA)

• Support employee retirement system that balances the needs of employees within the financial restraints of public education.
   
• Support legislation that provides for the long-term sustainability of employee retirement plan.