.jpg)
DENVER – Colorado’s working parents may have an increased opportunity to attend academic activities for their children in the K-12 system.
House Bill 1001 would reintroduce a portion of the Parental Involvement in K-12 Education Act that sunsetted in 2015. The act required employers to allow workers to take up to 18 hours of unpaid leave during an academic year in increments of up to three hours to attend “parent-teacher conferences or meetings related to special education services, interventions, dropout prevention, attendance, truancy, or discipline issues,” according to the bill.
The bill passed 7-5 in the Colorado House Education Committee. Those opposed questioned whether parents were truly unable to make such meetings, if it should be on the employers to facilitate the time, if the school districts should increase their flexibility, and if the government should be so heavily involved in the relationship between employers and employees.
“I think that the government’s role is not to be able to tell the employer how to treat their employees,” said Rep. Tim Leonard, R-Evergreen.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, disagreed.
“My feeling is there are certain areas where I do feel the government needs to help us make some decisions. For example parental involvement. I do feel that every parent should be able to leave work to go to their kid’s academic activities,” Buckner said.
Arguments for the bill included the importance of parent involvement in the educational process, and the need to positively reinforce academic activities in the same way as athletic events, despite athletics falling during inconvenient times of day.
“Nobody really says ‘you can’t go to their football game or soccer game or whatever.’ But often times the academics take place in the middle of the day,” said Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango.
Xavier Manzanares, 10, a fifth-grader at Adventure Elementary in Denver, told the committee about occasions when his parents were unable to attend academic activities such as a science fair and a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science – or to the committee hearing on Monday.
“I am here today with my grandma because my mom and dad could not take time off work to come see me speak,” he said. “I’m asking you to please pass the parental involvement bill so my mom and dad can come see me at school. I would be so happy to see my mom and dad at the science fair this year so they could be proud of me, and at my parent-teacher conferences.”
Last year, a similar bill was passed by the House before being killed in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, Buckner said.
This year’s bill might have a tough time passing the Republican-controlled Senate, but Buckner said she is hopeful.
“I’m excited that this is getting out of the (education committee), and it’s going to the committee of the whole, and then we’ll see what happens in the Senate,” she said.
The House Education Committee also passed H.B. 1041, which encourages schools to inform parents and students of job opportunities available as a result of their education and pathways to technical professions.
It was amended to remove duplicative language and refocused to encourage schools to discuss with students and parents the opportunities available in the military, and to provide students information on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
The test “measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military,” according the official website for the ASVAB test.
“The ASVAB covers all different aspects of mechanics, math, reading, all the different basic skills I think you are suppose to have or acquired by the time you are maybe a junior or senior in high school, and so it really helps put the laser on where your students are doing well and what portion of their education needs to be shored up a little bit before we send them out into the world and the workforce or the military,” said Rep. Phil Covarrubias, R-Brighton, said.
The bill was reworked because of the amount of opportunities already available for students to explore technical trades, Covarrubias said.
lperkins@durangoherald.com
Gun-training bill goes to House
DENVER – Between the Colorado state Senate and House of Representative seven bills passed third and final readings and will be transferred between the two chambers. Also, 11 were adopted after second reading
Among the bills that will switch chambers was Senate Bill 5, which creates a third exemption to the prohibition for concealed firearms on school campuses and would establish a minimum standard to which school employees have to be trained to carry a firearm at work.
After much debate Friday, the bill passed along party lines with an 18-17 vote that saw the Republicans use their majority to move the bill to the House.
The future of the measure is bleak because it lacks a Democratic sponsor in the House, where Democrats hold a 37-28 majority.
Among bills clearing second reading was S.B. 59, which will remove the need to use turn signals while navigating roundabouts.
“It’s maybe not the biggest issue pressing us in the state of Colorado, but our traffic law needs to make sense, and in one area it doesn’t make sense, and that is the requirement of the use of turn signals in roundabouts,” Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, said.
Current law requires turn signals at least 100 feet before a change of direction, which isn’t always possible in these intersections, Lundberg said.
Sen. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, said turn signals still provide some indication as to whether or not a driver is going to exit a roundabout, and they should be required.
“I think people should have to use their turn signals so other people know what’s going on, “ Jones said.
Also, eight bills were heard in committees, including:
S.B. 55, heard in the Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee, would create criminal penalties for employers that require union participation for employment.
It passed on a 4-3 party-line vote that saw Republicans vote to move Colorado toward the ranks of “right to work” states.
“Right to work legislation puts Coloradans before special interests by creating more options and reducing costly, burdensome mandates some families simply cannot afford,” said Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton.
S.B. 55 will be go to the Senate for second reading.
S.B. 120 would require citizenship for peace officers in Colorado.
“It is important that our law enforcement officials – who have power to arrest and authority to use force – possess a deep understanding and commitment to our system of laws, civil rights, and unique values,” Sen. Bob Gardner. R-Colorado Springs, said.
Sen. Rhoda Fields, D-Aurora, voiced concern about how the measure impact communities that had already hired law enforcement officers who were not U.S. citizens.
“I’ve seen people come to this country that are just as committed to our Constitution and our values as the guy who was born here, and they do all they can to be productive, contributing, members to the society and want to be a part of the police force,” Fields said.
For some areas, having peace officers who are not citizens is important to properly serving the populace, she said. “I’d like to see a police force that’s reflective of the community.”
lperkins@durangoherald.com
