蜜桃影视

Washington, D.C.

To get more sorely needed education funding in Colorado, policymakers have to prove to voters that schools are getting results, Gov. John Hickenlooper said.

鈥淎t a certain point, I think, what the voters want to see is, if we鈥檙e going to increase taxes, what are we going to get for it? … I鈥檓 not sure anyone鈥檚 been able to demonstrate that to them successfully, that 鈥楬ere鈥檚 how we鈥檙e going to use the money, and here鈥檚 the increase you鈥檙e going to get from it, the increase in performance,鈥� 鈥� said Hickenlooper, a Democrat who will end his two terms in office this year.

Hickenlooper spoke to 蜜桃影视 ahead of his appearance at 鈥淩aising the Bar: A Conversation on Education in America,鈥� an event moderated by Axios鈥檚 Mike Allen and sponsored by 蜜桃影视 and the Walton Family Foundation. Gov. Roy Cooper, Democrat of North Carolina, and Kansas Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer also spoke at the town hall event.

Here鈥檚 audio of my exclusive backstage conversation with the governor:聽

And video of Hickenlooper鈥檚 conversation with Allen:聽

Hickenlooper, in his , said Colorado remains three-quarters of a billion dollars below school funding levels required by the state Constitution to keep pace with inflation and enrollment growth.

All tax increases must go before Colorado voters, who historically have not backed most of them. The state spent $9,245 per student in 2015, , citing Census figures. That put it at No. 39 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the national average the same year was $11,392.

That low funding 鈥渕akes it really difficult for us to compete for teachers, to do all the things you need to make school districts,鈥� Hickenlooper said.

This year, he has focused in particular on rural schools, where teacher shortages are a growing problem, and has advocated for $10 million to $20 million in additional funding for recruitment there, he said Friday.

Testing, particularly in the two decades since the passage of No Child Left Behind, has been the key metric for measuring schools鈥� success. But Colorado has been an epicenter of the opt-out movement, and state lawmakers prohibited the state education board from lowering a school鈥檚 ratings if fewer than 95 percent of students take required tests. That stance , as the law requires 95 percent test participation.

Although Colorado did have 鈥渢oo much testing,鈥� and testing used for teacher bonuses and compensation resulted in harmful 鈥渢eaching to the test,鈥� exams are important, Hickenlooper said.

Most students would understandably opt out of exams if given the choice 鈥� the real hurdle is convincing parents of their merit, the governor said.

鈥淭he challenge here is, when opting out becomes acceptable to parents, then we鈥檙e in trouble. We need to reach out and begin that conversation with parents again, to say, 鈥楧on鈥檛 you want to know how your school is doing?鈥� 鈥� Hickenlooper said.

Many Colorado parents would praise their children鈥檚 schools and teachers while panning public schools writ large, he said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a big disconnect. That鈥檚 why we need assessment, testing,鈥� he added.

A key to improving education is also being willing to make big changes at schools that aren鈥檛 performing well, Hickenlooper said during the town hall event.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be willing to step up and try to provide the tools for a massive changeover. But in some schools, the culture is so bad you need to close the school, clean it out, and then reopen it. That has, in many cases, proven successful,鈥� he said.

Hickenlooper also talked at length about school safety. Both the 1999 Columbine school shooting and the 2012 Aurora movie theater assault occurred in his state, and he oversaw passage of several gun control measures after the Aurora attack.

He panned President Trump鈥檚 recent proposal to allow teachers to carry weapons on school grounds, saying most educators think it鈥檚 a 鈥渢errible idea.鈥�

Training and background checks are important, but 鈥渉aving guns so available to so many people makes the task of keeping schools safe almost impossible,鈥� he said.

Hickenlooper also said he believes the country is at a tipping point on gun control.

鈥淲e are allowing ourselves to be terrorized. If you were someone in a basement in Leningrad and you wanted to hurt America as badly as you could, what better way than to make our children feel that they鈥檙e unsafe in school?鈥� he asked.

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