The Colorado legislature held an historic 2023 legislative session that has far-reaching impacts for educators, students, and public schools. Each year the CEA honors the legislators who centered educators and students in the legislation they pursued. We’re thrilled to honor these Education Champions whose legislative agendas put students first, addressed the challenges we, as educators are facing, and prioritized CEA’s pillars of investment, respect and safety.

CEA is proud to recognize the following legislators as the Top of Class Education Champions this year.  They stood out as champions across all of our legislative priorities: Invest, Respect, and Safety!

We’d also like to recognize the following legislators for prioritizing CEA’s priorities of Invest, Respect, and Safety. It takes grit, compassion, and dedication to champion public education in Colorado’s legislature. Thank you for actively reaching out to educators, seeking our input and expertise, including our perspectives, and working with us to improve public education in Colorado. Together, we will continue to fight for the public schools that all of our Colorado students, educators, and communities deserve.

INVEST

Colorado’s future depends on enacting a long-term, systemic fix which will provide additional revenue sources for our public school system. The only way to ensure that we have the education system worthy of our students and educators is to dedicate ourselves to a sustainable long-term investment. These legislators listened to the advocacy of our members and went above and beyond to prioritize investing in public education. To pushing a $180 million BS Factor buydown, ensuring that Colorado keep its commitments to public education, and advocating for other basic needs of educators such as housing and PERA investment.

RESPECT

Respecting our educators as professional experts in our field means more than just paying a living wage. It means centering our voices and expertise in legislation that affects our work. CEA would like to honor the legislators who centered educators in the legislation they pursued. We’re grateful for the leadership of bill sponsors who sponsored SB 23-111, giving the largest increase in educator and public workers rights in a decade and who sponsored HB 23-1064 Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, which was an important win in the fight to combat statewide teacher shortages.

SAFETY

Our schools—their successes and their challenges—are often a reflection of the issues our communities are wrestling with. This is especially obvious with our schools’ ongoing struggle to ensure safety of all those who work and learn within them each day. It’s time we listen to educators who are at the center of this issue, and live with its complexities and repercussions every day. CEA would like to honor the following legislators for all their work to make schools and society safer, increase mental health resources, to stand up to the gun lobby and overcome obstruction.

HOUSING

Housing accessibility is a top concern for Colorado residents, and a lack of affordable housing disproportionately affects educators. This is a crisis and it must be treated as such. When educators can’t live in the communities where they work and teach, it is our students who lose out on dedicated teachers who will support their academic, personal, social and physical growth. This legislative session saw potential bold fixes for Colorado’s affordable housing crisis – such as SB23-213 Land Use, HB23-1115 Repeal Prohibition Local Residential Rent Control, and HB23-1171 Just Cause Requirement Eviction of Residential Tenant. Unfortunately none of these groundbreaking pieces of legislation moved forward but CEA nonetheless honors the work of their sponsors.