Latest news with #HouseBill25-1192
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These bills on education passed the Colorado Legislature in 2025
Thousands attended a rally the Colorado Education Association organized in support of fully funding public schools on March 20, 2025, at the Colorado Capitol in Denver. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline) The Colorado Legislature passed dozens of bills making changes to K-12 education in the state this year. Some bills add new requirements for school districts and their policies while others relate to curriculum requirements for students. Lawmakers also approved a new school finance policy that extends the implementation of a new school finance formula approved last year amid budget shortfalls. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed a few education measures from the legislative session into law already while several others await his signature. The 2025 session ended last week. Here are some other bills that came from the Legislature's work on education. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX House Bill 25-1192 requires that school districts implement a financial literacy course as a graduation requirement for high school students. Public high school students would need to pass a financial literacy class in their junior or senior year under the requirements of the bill. Colorado law currently encourages school districts to require financial literacy coursework for graduation, and about one-quarter of districts do so, according to the Colorado Department of Education. The bipartisan measure would apply starting with students who are in the ninth grade starting in September 2026. The class would need to cover the standards adopted by the State Board of Education in 2022, which include topics like household budgeting, saving, investing, using credit, and understanding the difference between leasing and buying large purchases like cars and homes. The bill would also make completion of the federal or state financial aid form a condition for graduation. Students and parents would be able to opt out of that requirement. Polis has not yet taken action on the bill. House BIll 25-1149 directs the Colorado Department of Education to establish a 17-member advisory committee to help develop statewide K-12 curriculum on Black history and cultural studies. The curriculum should represent 'Black historical experiences through truthful, inclusive, complex narratives that connect with contemporary realities' and highlight 'innovations and cultural contributions of Black people in Colorado, America, and the world,' the bill says. Implementing a standardized Black history curriculum in our public schools ensures that students of all races and backgrounds receive a more complete education that prepares them to be informed, engaged citizens and honors the extensive contributions of Black Americans in shaping our state and nation. – Sen. Tony Exum The Trump administration has targeted DEI — diversity, equity and inclusion — initiatives particularly in educational institutions. 'Implementing a standardized Black history curriculum in our public schools ensures that students of all races and backgrounds receive a more complete education that prepares them to be informed, engaged citizens and honors the extensive contributions of Black Americans in shaping our state and nation,' Sen. Tony Exum, a Colorado Springs Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement celebrating its passage. The advisory committee will include experts on Black history and culture, teachers from rural and urban school districts, a librarian, curriculum specialists, community leaders, a parent in a public school parent organization and members of the Colorado Legislature, among others. The timeline for implementing the new standards aligns with the six-year cycle the State Board of Education already uses for revising academic standards. Education providers will have two years to implement the standards after they are developed. Polis has not yet taken action on the bill. House Bill 25-1135 requires school districts to adopt policies on the use of cell phones and other communication devices during the school day. The bipartisan bill does not impose a ban on student cell phone use but intends to reduce classroom distractions and requires all Colorado schools, including charter schools, to adopt their own policies by July 2026. 'Many teachers already work hard to limit phone use in class, but they need backup,' Sen. Janice Marchman, a Loveland Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. 'This new law gives local schools the support to set clear, consistent policies — so students can focus, learn, and take a real break from the pressures of constant connectivity.' The policies must also consider accommodations for students who need access to a phone for medical reasons. A 2023 advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General warns that social media use among young people is associated with poor mental health, especially among adolescent girls. Research also shows that cell phone use during instruction time has adverse effects on student learning. Polis signed the bill into law at the start of May. Senate Bill 25-63, dubbed the Freedom to Read Act, requires school districts to create policies about the 'acquisition, retention, display, reconsideration, and use' of library books and other materials by September. The measure intends to safeguard public school libraries from the growing trend that targets certain books, often about diverse topics or by diverse authors, for removal. 'This legislation creates a standard process to evaluate a book's inclusion or removal from a library, further shielding our public school libraries from D.C. culture wars and political fights,' Rep. Jenny Willford, a Northglenn Democrat who sponsored the bill, said in a statement. 'Schools are for learning, and our students deserve access to age-appropriate books that encourage them to think broadly and critically about the world.' District policies will need to consider when and why library materials can be removed, and outline a process for challenging and removing books from circulation. Only parents of students in the school district will be allowed to challenge books, and reviews of individual books will be limited to once every two years. In 2024, there were seven attempts to ban 137 books in public schools and libraries in Colorado, according to the American Library Association. The most challenged book in the country that year was 'All Boys Aren't Blue,' a memoir written for young adults by queer Black author George Johnson. Polis signed the bill into law at the start of May. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
CBS News
06-03-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Colorado bill would make financial literacy course a requirement for high school graduation across state
Some Colorado lawmakers want financial literacy to be a requirement for high school graduation. Only about 25% of Colorado school districts require a personal finance course to graduate, according to the Colorado Department of Education. Denver Public Schools is one of the districts. West High School in Denver is one of the schools that has offered the course for the past five years, in English and Spanish. At Denver West High School, more than 80% of students identify as Latinx. House Bill 25-1192, which has bipartisan support from state lawmakers including Reps. Don Wilson, Lorena Garcia, and Sens. James Coleman and Barbara Kirkmeyer, would make financial literacy a graduation requirement statewide. Statewide, only 13% of students are guaranteed access to a high school personal finance course before graduation. Alejandro Palma is a senior at West High School who is taking a financial literacy course as an elective. "You learn a lot from it, you learn about investments," said Palma. As a second generation Latinx student, he feels the pressure to build on generational wealth. "You learn how to make a resume and how to keep a job," said Palma. It may seem like basic life skills, but they are necessary to learn. The course teaches students to manage finances, understand credit and invest while tailoring to the needs of bilingual students. Chris Velasquez, a teacher at Denver West, teaches the course in Spanish. "A lot of kids that we have here because it is a huge immigrant population, start growing businesses, whether its concrete and painting, and they ask us 'How can I network?'" said Velasquez. For the past five years, Velasquez says the course has been extremely helpful for many students and is the first school in the district to offer the course in Spanish. "They get to understand what a co-signer is, what does credit mean, especially since some of our populations, they don't even use credit -- they grew up thinking credit was the devil," said Velasquez. Meanwhile, inside Daniel Walter's classroom students are learning how to manage their finances using apps. "When I talk to other people about what I do and what I teach every time their jaws hit the floor and say 'I wish I would have taken that class,'" said Walter. He says regardless of one's race or socioeconomic status, the lessons learned in this class can be used for life. "There's just a great need to learn the tools of our system and to be financially stable," said Walter. The organization Ednium is in support of a bill at the Colorado State Capitol. It would make this course a requirement statewide. In 2021, the organization helped make the course a requirement in Denver Public Schools. Now the 2024-2025 year the course would be required for graduation. Elijah Huff with the Ednium says the push for this course would be extremely beneficial to educating young people to save money. "I think its also a huge culture boost for certain communities as well to learn how to manage money and how to work with money when we know there has been a huge gap in some of our communities in Denver," said Huff. The bill would also make it a requirement for students to apply for state aid. Although the state board strongly encourages local school districts to require personal finance education, most do not. Colorado ranks 46th in FAFSA completion nationwide, and it's estimated that students in the state leave more than $30 million in federal aid on the table annually. "Across time I just think it's the community that has been really big on trying to tear down the barriers and being vocal about it," said Huff. As for Palma, he plans to join the military, but first he'll use what he learned in class to land his first job. The hearing for the bill, which has bipartisan support, is scheduled for March 6.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Colorado bill would make financial literacy class a graduation requirement
Students at public high schools like East High School in Denver would be required to learn about budgeting, investing and other financial literacy topics if legislation being considered by the Colorado Legislature becomes law. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline) A bipartisan bill in the Colorado Legislature would require public high school students to pass a financial literacy class in order to graduate, an effort sponsors say will help prepare them for a modern world with student loans, credit cards and complex personal budgeting decisions. 'Financial literacy is absolutely critical to anybody's success. I don't care if you're coming out of high school, you're a business person, you're just the average guy that's making a living or you want to run a billion-dollar corporation — it doesn't matter. If you do not understand financial literacy, you cannot succeed in society,' said Rep. Anthony Hartsook, a Parker Republican running the bill. Hartsook is sponsoring the bill with House Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat. In the Senate, it is sponsored by Sen. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, and Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat. Hartsook said that when he was a commander in the U.S. Army, he was surprised about how little some soldiers knew about money. He'd get phone calls from creditors or learn that a soldier's check bounced, and he'd then order them to take a financial literacy class. 'Their whole world was opened up,' he said. A recent Bankrate poll found that one-third of Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings as the country grapples with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, the rising cost of living and stagnant wages. It also found that about one-quarter of Americans have no emergency savings at all. People aged 18 to 28 were the most likely to report that they had no emergency savings or credit card debt. 'I would like to see, not only statewide, but eventually moving nationwide, a generation coming up that understands finances, spends within their means, understands how compound interest works — and they don't get in over their head and then declare bankruptcy or have to get a loan consolidation or something like that,' Hartsook said. Colorado law encourages school districts to require financial literacy coursework for graduation, and about one-quarter of districts do so, according to the Colorado Department of Education. House Bill 25-1192 would switch that from a recommendation to a requirement, and public high school students would need to complete a financial literacy class in their junior or senior year. The class would need to cover the standards adopted by the State Board of Education in 2022, which include topics like household budgeting, saving, investing, using credit, and understanding the difference between leasing and buying large purchases like cars and homes. CDE has a resource bank of financial literacy educational webinars, online programs and other curricula, including some free options. That includes free courses from Next Gen Personal Finance, which is associated with a nonprofit registered in support of the bill. The organization's goal is to require all high schoolers nationwide to take a financial literacy course by 2030. It is tracking financial education bills in 14 states and directly supporting bills in Colorado, New Jersey, North Dakota and Texas. Ten states require high school students to pass a financial literacy course to graduate, and 16 others have passed legislation and are in the process of implementation. The bill would also make completion of the federal or state financial aid form, known as a CASFA or FAFSA, a condition for graduation. Students and parents would be able to opt out of that requirement. Twelve states have universal FAFSA laws, according to the National College Attainment Network. Groups including the Colorado School Counselor Association are opposed to the bill because of that FAFSA requirement, arguing that it would increase caseload on a workforce already stretched thin. 'Some schools have folks within their buildings that are specifically trained for this, but the burden would still fall on those high school educators, and we're just not trained on it consistently,' said Vicki Helfer, an Aurora Public Schools counselor and CSCA board member. She said that even though there is an opt-out provision, the language is confusing. 'There are plenty of counselors across the state who share stories with us about students dropping out of school when faced with confusing graduation mandates, even though they have these opt-outs,' Helfer said. She said CSCA would support the bill if the provision was removed. In his budget request, Gov. Jared Polis asked for $300,000 to increase financial literacy and FAFSA completion in schools. Colorado students missed out on $55 million in federal aid by not completing the forms, he wrote in his November budget letter to lawmakers. The bill is scheduled for its first committee hearing with the House Education Committee on Feb. 27.
