Colorado Legislation Refinances Fed Stimulus Funds for Future Use

???I have spent the week catching up with many of our readers on the last legislative session and some of the highlights and takeaways. In fact, I heard that at a briefing this week, our?Colorado Succeeds?colleagues invited legislators to sum up the last session with the title of a song. What song best represents your experience with the most recent legislative session? Share?with me?your song choice, and perhaps we will start a ‘Boundless Potential’ playlist!

???With gratitude to our friends at the?Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (CEEMI)?and Tonette Salazar, we got a short recap of the recent legislative session. A few updates include:

• 703 bills were introduced (a record!) – 80% of which were passed, 250 pieces of legislation were passed in the final two weeks of session
• $42.9 billion was budgeted for state operations, including $18 billion for the General Fund, a 7% increase in General Fund spending
• The budget brought down the budget stabilization factor for K-12 education and increased higher education funding by $132 million

???We also recently learned more about the state’s effort to refinance the federal?American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)?funds and other one-time stimulus funds. Over the last four years, $8 billion in additional money came through the state from the federal government. Two pieces of legislation –?HB 1465?and?HB 1466?– passed and will ensure federal money is spent by the end of 2024 to meet the federal deadline. However, the legislation also switched out some allocated state funds as a way to spend down this federal money, allowing funds to be kept in state coffers for future years. Most notable was $3 million which remains in the?Opportunity Now?ARPA fund, allowing further investment and allocation to support innovative projects at the intersection of education and employment.

We will continue to examine some of the successes of the last legislative session and share back with our readers. What caught your attention, or what issues have left questions in your mind??Tell us here?and we are happy to offer our insights in the coming weeks.

???This week, I also had the chance to tell the story of?Adams State University?and its?Prison Education Program?in?Forbes. Prison education programs are designed to provide incarcerated individuals with academic, vocational, and life-skills training, ultimately supporting those impacted by the justice system with their transition back to society. Adams State has been offering accredited college courses that lead to degrees for incarcerated individuals for 20 years. And, in a unique twist (also?profiled?by journalist Jason Gonzales in?Chalkbeat Colorado), the program employs faculty members who are currently incarcerated and formerly incarcerated to deliver both online and in-person instruction across five facilities in Colorado, and approximately 600 facilities across the nation.?

Read my full story – a powerful interview with Adams State University?President David Tandberg?and Director of the Prison Education Program,?Lauren Hughes?–?here.

???A programming note: our team will be honoring and celebrating?Juneteenth?next Wednesday, June 19 and we will return to your inbox on June 26

Spotlight on Colorado Education and Workforce

???On?Thursday, June 27, the Colorado Workforce Development Council, in collaboration with Apprenticeship Colorado will host?The Apprenticeship Advantage. This convening will galvanize shared talent strategies to support in-demand industries in Colorado through the launch of registered apprenticeships and sector partnerships.

Participants will have the ability to ask questions about partnerships with registered apprenticeship providers (RAPs) to support Colorado career seekers, discuss related instruction aligned with RAPs, better understand employer roles and intermediaries, and get answers to questions about available state funding.

???Employers?– large, medium and small businesses – across Colorado are encouraged to attend and engage in this convening as a way to better understand the apprenticeship landscape in the state.

The convening will be held?from 4-6:30pm at Junior Achievement in Greenwood Village.

More details, and register?here.

• For more information about the Colorado Workforce Development Council, visit?here.
• For more information about Apprenticeship Colorado, visit?here.

What We’re Reading (and Listening To…)

Early Childhood Education

• Colorado Invests in Bilingual Preschool as Spanish-Speaking Population Grows With New Migrants, by Jennifer Brown of?The Colorado Sun
• Home Visiting Programs Aren’t Just for Families. They Can Support Child Care Providers Too., by Emily Tate Sullivan of?EdSurge

K-12 Education

• Podcast:?How DSST Became a Successful Educational Modelfeaturing Bill Kurtz and Van Schoales,?Common Sense Institute’s ‘Common Sense Digest’
• Perspective: A Blueprint For Better Schools, by Jason Gaulden in?The Denver Gazette
• Colorado Schools Are Trying to Find the Right Equation to Solve Low Math Scores. One Answer: High-Dosage Tutoring, by Jenny Brundin of?CPR News
• Colorado Offers High School Students Many College Opportunities. Which Ones Are Worth the Money?, by Jason Gonzales of?Chalkbeat Colorado
• Colorado Middle and High Schools Must Provide Free Menstruation Products to Students by 2028, by Tatiana Flowers of?The Colorado Sun
• As Dual Enrollment Programs Boom, the Focus Widens to Career, by Colleen Connolly in?Work Shift
• Aspen School District On Pace to Become First Full International Baccalaureate District in Colorado, by Lucy Peterson of?The Aspen Times

Postsecondary Education

• Work-Based Youth Learning Programs Can Augment Talent Development Strategies, Report Says, by Carolyn Crist in?HR Dive
• Supporting Students With Disabilities in Degree Attainment, by Ashley Mowreader of?Inside Higher Ed
• What is Labor Market Information and How can Community Colleges Use It?, by Iris Palmer of?New America

Future of Work

• Report:?How More States and Cities Can Retain Immigrant Entrepreneurs, by Connor O’Brien of?Economic Innovation Group
• Skills-Based Hiring Is Hot, but Dropping Degree Requirements Is Just the First Step, by Steve Taylor & Taylor McLemore in?Governing Magazine
• What Companies Get Wrong About Skills-Based Hiring, by Joseph Fuller & Matt Sigelman in?Harvard Business Review
• How New Graduates Can Thrive in a Workplace Dominated by AI, by Brent Orrell of?American Enterprise Institute

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE):?ISTELive 2024, June 23-26, Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO
• Colorado Workforce Development Council:?Talent Finance Primer (Colorado Innovative Finance Community of Practice), June 26, 12pm MT (Virtual)
• NEW! The Aspen Institute:?Education and Career Mobility Fellowship, application open now until June 28
• Postsecondary National Policy Institute (PNPI):?Federal Student Aid Boot Camp, July 11-12, Washington, D.C.
• NEW! New America:?Learning Sciences Exchange (LSX) Focus Fellowship Program, application for 2024-25 cohort open now until July 15
• State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO):?2024 Higher Education Policy Conference, August 5-8, Washington, D.C, registration now open
• The Attainment Network:?Career-Connected L/Earning Conference, September 18-19, Aims Community College, Greeley, CO
• Human Potential Capital:?The Human Potential Summit 2024, October 14-16, Denver, CO

Colleagues on the Move

• Armando Valdez?has been appointed as President of Colorado State University-Pueblo. He currently serves as the Chair of the Colorado State University System Board of Governors.