Town halls on the teacher shortage in Colorado indicate that higher pay, better broadband internet access and respect for educators would help improve the education system.
The town halls were one of many education-focused topics covered by state Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, at a meeting of the Durango Branch of the American Association of University Women at the DoubleTree Hotel on Saturday.
McLachlan, a former Durango High School teacher, served her first term in the Legislature this year and sponsored three bipartisan education bills that were signed into law.
“I ran on doing something for education, and I actually got something done,” she said.
One of her bills required the state’s departments of Education and Higher Education to hold town halls and ask students, teachers, parents and community members what’s wrong with education and why some Colorado districts struggle to find teachers, she said.
An action plan based on the meetings is due Dec. 1, and the recommendations in that plan will be McLachlan’s focus next session, she said.
The first request on the list from the town halls was higher pay for teachers, McLachlan said.
Better broadband would allow isolated teachers in rural areas to connect with their peers for professional development, and more respect for the profession is also needed, but that’s a tough issue to address through legislation, she said.
There is still a widely held belief that those who can’t do, teach, she said.
Another initiative she sponsored allowed retired teachers to return to work in rural school districts without harming their retirement benefits.
As of last month, 60 retired teachers had returned to work in rural school districts, including several from Durango who commute to Cortez to teach, she said.
McLachlan’s third bill required all school districts in the state to test for lead because it is extraordinarily dangerous for young children.
The largest school districts in the state have completed the testing, and they found that 5 percent of their schools had lead problems, she said.
McLachlan also addressed the state’s funding challenges: Colorado’s revenues are lower now than in 2008, and problematic amendments to the Constitution including the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and the Gallagher Amendment complicate budgeting.
“School districts are strapped for cash, road and bridges are dangerously unmaintained, and child care remains unaffordable and college tuition increases every year,” she said.
TABOR enacted the strictest limits on raising revenue and spending for any state in the nation, she said.
While the Gallagher Amendment requires the state to lower the assessment rate – the property value of homes subject to taxation – whenever statewide total residential property values increase faster than business property values.
This year, the Gallagher Amendment cut the La Plata County budget and hurt funding for local fire departments.
Members of the crowd asked McLachlan about efforts to repeal TABOR, which would require approval from Colorado voters, and she was unaware of any citizen-led initiatives.
Republican-led efforts to repeal TABOR in the Legislature have also failed she said.
A legislative committee is studying school finance to come up with possible solutions for the “broken” school-funding system, she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
