An education bill aimed at addressing staffing shortages in small or rural school districts has passed the Colorado Legislature, while another, which would extend access to low- or no-cost educational materials, remained under consideration as of Friday.
HB26-1016 – the bill under consideration – is sponsored by Reps. Rick Taggart and Jacque Phillips. It would extend the expiration of the state’s open educational resources grant program and the Colorado Open Educational Resources Council by five additional years, allowing students and educators access to low- or no-cost education materials through 2031.
OERs are free or low-cost, openly licensed teaching, learning and research materials such as digital textbooks, open-access course materials and publicly available educational content.
The OER grant program and the Colorado Open Educational Resources Council are set to be repealed Nov. 1. The bill would push that end date to Nov. 1, 2031.
The bill would also increase the membership cap of the council from 12 to 15 members and require the Department of Higher Education to continue preparing and submitting its annual report on open educational resources through Dec. 31, 2031 – five years past the current expiration date.
The bill would also slightly modify the content of the reports by requiring additional data, including the number and percentage of courses at public higher education institutions that use zero-cost textbooks.
The bill passed committee Jan. 29 by an 11-2 vote, but its status remained “under consideration” as of Friday.
“Our bill saves college students and instructors money by making high-quality education materials, such as textbooks, available and easily accessible at no cost,” Phillips said in a Jan. 29 news release from Colorado House Democrats. “This legislation ensures the state develops and implements open educational resources to reduce barriers to a well-rounded education and support our higher education professors and students alike.”
HB26-1027, also sponsored by Taggart, along with prime sponsors Sen. Chris Kolker and Reps. Tammy Story and Katie Stewart, passed committee Jan. 29 by a 13-0 vote and passed a third Senate reading with no amendments Feb. 19.
The bill aims to address staffing shortages in education – specifically in small or rural areas – by ensuring retirees can serve on Boards of Cooperative Educational Services without losing their retirement benefits.
Under the bill, retirees who meet certain criteria could serve as BOCES executive directors without having their Public Employees’ Retirement Association, or PERA, benefits affected.
“We’re looking at every avenue to support our rural schools and help address the educator shortage,” Stewart said in the release. “This bill makes it easier for retired BOCES executive directors to return to the classroom, without risking their retirement benefits. In rural communities like mine, it can be difficult to recruit and retain new school administrators, teachers, and support staff. This bill makes sure retired BOCES executive directors can re-enter the workforce and support their local schools.”
The bill also addresses funding provisions by allowing local education providers to choose to have their funding contributions made directly to a BOCES.
BOCES are designed specifically to help small and rural school districts by offering high-quality, cost-effective educational programs a district could not afford on its own and by allowing school districts to share costs and resources for specialized educational services.
epond@durangoherald.com
