Dec 3, 2020 | Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2020
Statement from Amie Baca-Oehlert, high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), on adjournment of the 2020 special Legislative Session:
“The special session convened this week is a step toward helping Colorado students, educators, families, and small businesses deal with the challenges and realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Colorado lawmakers have given some relief to many Coloradans.
“Bills that lift up Colorado’s students, families, and educators like the CEA-supported House Bill 20B-1001 “Grants to Improve Internet Access in P-12 Ed” are helpful yet there is still significant work that needs to be done to address equity and access beyond this bill. Inequities all across the state, sadly, are the norm and the COVID-19 pandemic has not only shone a spotlight on these inequities but has made them worse.
“We applaud the demise of several school voucher scheme bills that were attempted during this brief, special legislative session. Vouchers have never been proven to be effective in supporting student opportunity and these bills would have reduced public school funding at a time when our public schools need more, not less to address the COVID-19 pandemic and learning overall.
“Finally, we want to make it abundantly clear about our priorities in the Legislature moving forward: we will work with Colorado legislators to take meaningful, creative, and bold action to address the chronic underfunding of our public schools, particularly focusing on addressing the major budget cuts made in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to being able to lift up and champion legislators who prioritize educators, parents, and students by ensuring that public education is restored to pre-COVID-19 level funding in the upcoming legislative session.”
About the Colorado Education Association
The Colorado Education Association is a membership-based organization that represents 39,000 Colorado educators. The CEA promise to our students and communities is that the members of the Association will lead the way in guaranteeing every student access to the best public education. By working collectively with all education stakeholders, we will provide the best public education for every student and assure Colorado’s standing as an excellent state in which to learn, live, work, and raise a family.
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Nov 2, 2020 | Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2020
CEA Statement on Governor’s Proposed State Budget
DENVER, CO – Statement from Amie Baca-Oehlert, high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association on public education funding in Gov. Jared Polis’ proposed state budget for FY 2021-22:
“The 39,000 members of the Colorado Education Association are cautiously optimistic about the Governor’s budget proposal for the 2021-22 fiscal year. His proposal to prioritize K-12 education by adding $811 million back into public education funding, bringing the overall budget stabilization factor back to pre-COVID levels at $572 million, is a good first step in recovering precious funding for Colorado students and educators.
“Colorado educators have been resolute in demanding the funding our students’ deserve and we are appreciative that our collective voice has been heard. This is just the first step, however, as CEA looks forward to working with legislators in the upcoming legislative session to ensure that students and educators are at the forefront in all budget discussions.
“Cautious optimism gives way to the stark reality, however, that voters must vote to defeat Propositions 116 and 117 and pass Amendment B and Proposition EE. We know that the forecast for next year won’t likely be as good, so it is imperative that Colorado voters prioritize public education funding in tomorrow’s election. Colorado’s students are our most precious resource and have gone without adequate support for far too long and it is long past time to make them a priority.”
About the Colorado Education Association
The Colorado Education Association is a membership-based organization that represents 39,000 Colorado educators. The CEA promise to our students and communities is that the members of the Association will lead the way in guaranteeing every student access to the best public education. By working collectively with all education stakeholders, we will provide the best public education for every student and assure Colorado’s standing as an excellent state in which to learn, live, work, and raise a family.
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Jun 16, 2020 | Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2020
Public education saddled with a $1.18 billion deficit as elected leaders fail to come to agreement on ways to increase revenue for public education
DENVER – Colorado’s 2020 legislative session opened with public education facing a $577 million deficit before the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 ballooned the deficit to an unprecedented $1.18 billion. The 39,000 members of the Colorado Education Association (CEA) engaged in record activism to ensure that legislators heard from front-line professionals about what our educators, students and public schools need, highlighted by the need to make educator pay, ranked 49th in the nation, more competitive and eliminating the budget stabilization (BS) factor by 2022.
In addition to addressing educator pay and eliminating the BS factor, educators called for legislators to support public schools and education professionals by:
- Reducing educator workloads and large class sizes
- Increasing mental health supports for educators and students
- Prioritizing public schools over private corporations
- Updating the educator evaluation and accountability systems
- Prioritize all working families and union values
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Colorado Legislature once again cut public education to balance the state budget by more than doubling the BS factor to $1.18 billion. As public education funding continues to be cut, the needs of students and demands on educators continue to increase.
“CEA had a strong presence at the Capitol this session. In response to the new limitations placed on legislative engagement, our members took action, standing up for public education via emails, phone calls and social media activism,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, a high school counselor and president of CEA.“We emphasized how this current crisis was not a singular occurrence. Public education has been in crisis for over a decade. We cannot afford to continue balancing the state’s budget on the backs of students and educators.”
Determined to address the inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic recession, CEA focused its efforts on policies that would provide more money into public education and provide educators relief by:
- Advocating for passage of an emergency tax relief bill
- Prioritizing classrooms over corporations by closing corporate tax loopholes
- Redirecting the money spent on high stakes standardized testing and the costly accountability system to support student needs
In the final hours of the 2020 session, House Bill 20-1420, Adjust Tax Expenditures For State Education Fund, passed but is nowhere near as impactful as originally introduced. The amended bill represents a watered-down version that will raise more than $100 million for public education versus the $750 million it was originally expected to generate over several years.
“It’s disheartening to have had several solutions that could have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in relief for Colorado students either killed or gutted,” Baca-Oehlert added.“If there was ever a time to find bold, creative solutions, it’s now. But the advocacy of our members did make a difference this legislative session and we will continue to advocate for funding solutions for the schools our students and educators deserve. We were encouraged that the legislature supported Coloradans by passing major bills including paid sick days, expanded unemployment insurance, whistleblower protections and a process to review the impact of COVID 19 on standardized testing, accountability, accreditation and evaluation.”
CEA thanks those legislators who were willing to bring forward bold and creative solutions this session. CEA members will continue fighting alongside public education supporters toward long term solutions, such as Initiative 271, that will provide much needed resources for Colorado students.
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May 12, 2020 | Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2020
DENVER – Statement from Amie Baca-Oehlert, high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association, on the May state budget forecast and funding for the 2020-21 school year:
“Public school students and educators are worthy of public support and investment, even during a crisis. While difficult budget decisions are required, they can’t continue to be made on the backs of students and educators. The legislature did that 10 years ago and public education has never recovered. More than $8 billion in debt from the Great Recession is still carried by students and educators. We cannot dig the hole even deeper for our students and expect they will overcome this burden and thrive as adults.
“School funding is crucial to fixing the disparities and inequities that divide our students into haves and have-nots, disproportionately affecting communities of color and lower income. Our reaction to this crisis must ensure that we don’t leave our most vulnerable students behind. Students are experiencing trauma now and their needs will be far greater when they return to school than when they left. Mental health supports and distance learning capabilities are today’s wise investments.
“Colorado needs to treat this downturn differently and prioritize public schools, students and educators. A crisis is not the time to cut public school investment and deny our students opportunity. The last thing anybody wants is further disruption in the lives of students. We can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of the past that rob students of their love for learning.”
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Apr 9, 2020 | Press
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2020
DENVER – The 39,000 members of the Colorado Education Association have formally asked Gov. Polis to do more to help vulnerable Coloradans, students and educators during the coronavirus pandemic.
CEA delivered a petition to the governor, signed by more than 3,200 members, calling on Gov. Polis to prioritize educators, workers and students by taking additional actions for Colorado communities.
“We readily acknowledge the governor has shown brave and decisive leadership through this crisis,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, a high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association. Baca-Oehlert pointed to the state’s actions to close schools, cancel standardized testing for students and waive requirements for educator evaluations as positive developments that have reduced the level of anxiety for students and educators.
“Now we are calling on the Governor to do more. Our state’s lower income and vulnerable populations need more. Our educators and students need more,” stated Baca-Oehlert during a virtual press conference held to address the issues raised in the petition.
CEA members joined the call to talk with the media about the needs of their communities. Kelly Osuna, a high school Spanish teacher in the Cherry Creek School District, said immigration policies impact her school, where students speak 60 languages and come from 80 countries. The CEA petition requests the governor’s assistance in imploring the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to cease all arrests and release nonviolent offenders.
“Even before the threat of COVID-19, many of my students were living in fear for the safety and well-being of themselves and their families,” said Osuna.“As this pandemic continues to take over our society, our young people need to feel secure in the fact that their parents will come home from the essential jobs they are working, the jobs that are currently keeping our state afloat.
“Everyone in our state needs to feel safe, not fearful and harassed. Restricting ICE actions will allow Colorado’s mix-status families to feel more valued and secure as they do the essential work that benefits us all,” Osuna added.
Another piece in the petition asks the governor to provide firm direction to school districts that, in normal times, are accustomed to having a great amount of local control in making decisions. One example of necessary state direction is moving districts to reimburse educators for additional expenses they have incurred during the rush to distance learning. Carlos Meikel, an elementary school art teacher in the Poudre School District, told reporters he has spent about $200 out of his own pocket so far with more items still to purchase.
“We weren’t prepared to leave school. For remote learning, I needed to get supplies, technology and software on my own,” said Meikel.“It would be very nice to have some direction from the state to have our districts reimburse us. Our family budgets are crunched as well, we have spouses who are out of work now. We need to be reimbursed for those extra things we’re having to get at this time.”
“Employees need to know they are going to be paid and their benefits will continue during this critical time. We need to know we can support our families,” said Monte Hollander, a school bus driver in Jeffco Public Schools, on the stress and uncertainty school support staff are feeling across the state. In another curbing of local control in extraordinary times, the petition calls on Gov. Polis to mandate that school districts continue to pay all employees for the entire school year.
Hollander is receiving pay and benefits now, but he knows school districts can layoff employees. Even having a collective bargaining agreement in place between a district and employees doesn’t prevent a layoff from happening with devastating effects to the local and state economy.“We need the strong support of our governor, school boards and legislators to do the right thing regarding compensation and benefits for all education support professionals. Don’t forget us.”
Baca-Oehlert shared the heartbreak educators are feeling with the sudden end to in-person learning at school, when they“realized with finality that we won’t stand in front of our classes or see our students’ smiles on the school bus or in the lunch line.” She challenged the state and its school districts to rise up to meet the people’s needs and lend great comfort and care at this critical time.
“The coronavirus will test our school communities to be at their best for students and employees,” Baca-Oehlert observed.“In the wake of these uncertain and difficult times, strong leadership from our state is crucial. Together, we will get through this crisis and continue our collective pursuit to help every student thrive.”
Media may request a copy of the petition from Mike Wetzel, CEA public relations director, at mwetzel@coloradoea.org.
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