Guv signs marquee education measure

By Steven K. Paulson, Associated Press

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Gov. Bill Ritter signed a landmark education bill Wednesday designed to streamline Colorado public school curriculum and better prepare children for graduation, telling Arvada High School students it's no longer "business as usual."

Ritter said the bipartisan Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids will require major changes in the way students are taught and the way they learn by completely reorganizing content and assessment standards in public schools.

He said he also would sign a bill to create more openings in preschool programs for at-risk children and expand full-day kindergarten for 22,000 children over five years.

Ritter told the students that too many of their peers fail to graduate, and the state needs to take a bigger role in education.

"We rank 45th in the country for the percentage of native-born residents who earn college degrees. And as a nation, we are one of just two industrialized countries in the world whose college-completion rate is actually declining. We can do better. We must do better. And with these bills, we will do better," Ritter said.

Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said the bills signify major changes for public education from preschool through college.

"This can truly be the blueprint for a revolution," he said.

Michelle Trujillo, who had children in schools in Denver, Adams and now Jefferson counties, said her children are doing better in Jefferson County with progressive curriculum than they did in other counties. She said education levels should be the same, no matter where parents live.

"I think setting standards is the best way to go. There shouldn't be any difference," she said.

Ritter also signed measures requiring authorities to preserve DNA evidence, improve officers' ability to track sex offenders and increase penalties for drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident.

He also signed bills phasing out the use of confinement crates for veal calves and breeding sows, diverting interest from the unclaimed property fund to the State Fair, fighting invasive weeds and developing alternative energy.