House Education [Mar 26, 2026]

Commission committee will come to order. Will you please call the roll? Representatives of Bacon.

Bradfield.

Bradley.

Flannell.

Gilchrist.

Hamrick.

Artsuk.

Johnson.

Phillips.

Stewart.

Story.

Martinez.

Adam Chair.

All right, we do have quorum, so we will begin with House Bill 26-12-31. We have our bill sponsors in the room. We have our bill sponsors in the room. Hi. Madam Chair, would you like to begin? Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the Education Committee. As bill sponsors, we are committed to addressing the real and ongoing access challenges students face in obtaining timely sports physicals, particularly in rural communities. That problem is not theoretical. It requires a durable solution. We also recognize that Chassa operates through its medical advisory committee to determine and qualified providers. That process must be part of the solution. And so through Stakeholding House Bill 1231, we have discussed with CHASO that they will work with the physical therapy community over the interim to establish a clear, accessible, and equivalent approval process for physical therapists to perform pre-participation physicals. This process must be structured to result in meaningful participation, not symbolic eligibility. We expect this work to proceed in good faith and with the shared goal of improving access and outcomes for Colorado students and since Chassa is prepared to move forward with this we respectfully request the Education Committee postpone House Bill 26 1231 indefinitely to allow this work to be completed. Representative Bradley. Thank you. If I didn't say on the record I'm disappointed I'm disappointed. I just wanted to go over I've been a physical therapist for 25 years so I wanted to talk to the education committee about what that entails. We have to go through seven years of school, over 1,500 hours of clinical training in various different facilities, 30 hours of continuing ed every two years. We're best trained in movement and injury and focus on prevention of injuries. For instance, women are five times more likely to tear their ACLs, if you didn't know that. Nurse practitioners have an associate's or bachelor's or graduate degree, and they spend 500 to 1,500 hours with no continuing education requirement. They, along with physicians, physician assistants, and chiropractors, can already do these physicals for children. We, I believe, have more thorough orthopedic screening. Typical sports physicals are brief. We're talking five to ten minutes, and they focus on your general health. So for people that just go to an in and out clinical screening, you're talking about 10 minutes for your child's health. PTs, I treat each of my patients for about an hour to an hour and a half there in my clinic under my supervision. PTs can add functional movement screening, balance and stability testing and return to play risk assessment. We are trained in cardiovascular physiology, heart function, and circulation, pulmonary systems, vital signs, monitoring heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen, sometimes before, during, and after I take a patient through something, their exercise tolerance and response, and their cardiopulmonary diseases. This would have increased access. Many communities face primary care shortages. PTs are often available in rural areas, outpatient clinics. reduce delays getting cleared for sports and prevent kids from missing seasons. Doctors of physical therapy are trained on screening for red flags. And I want you guys to understand that. So I, in the state of Colorado, am a direct access healthcare provider, meaning you don't have to go to a doctor to come see me. So that means I have to be ready, especially in rural Colorado. If you say to me, my shoulder pain is keeping me up all night. I've lost weight, things like that. I'm not thinking you have shoulder impingement or biceps tendonitis. I'm thinking you might have cancer and we need to refer you out. That's why a subjective screening is so important. I probably spend 20 minutes on that, going through past medical history, familial disease, familial problems, and things like that if a child. And so direct access is already open. We're already seeing these patients without going to the doctor. PTs are trained, like medical providers, to screen for heart murmurs, managing cardiac risk because we're already direct access. We already are allowed to evaluate and treat patients independently. So if kids are falling, unfortunately, are dying from cardiac arrhythmias, it's not because PTs are doing it because we're not available to even do this right now. We are home care for our patients. I often treat grandparents, parents, children. So I know the history of my patients. And this is in suburbia. This isn't even in rural Colorado. And then I just want to say most athletes do not have a serious critical cardiac condition and can safely participate in sports with standard medical clearance. Many serious heart conditions show no symptoms before exertion. And that's one reason medical history matters in pre-participation evaluation, which is what we do in our clinic. These kids come in and I'm going to make them run on the treadmill like you have never run before to get them back to sports. I'm exerting them cardiovascularly. I'm not just saying, oh, you're having some chest pain. Let's get you to run a little bit harder and then let's get you out there playing rugby. I'm going to say, let me get the stethoscope, which we have in all of our clinics. Let me listen to your heart. Let me look at your oxygen levels. Let me assess your respiratory rate. And let's make sure there's nothing bigger going on because we know how to screen those patients or we wouldn't be a direct access state. And then if I hear a heart murmur, I am sending that patient to a pediatrician, just like I would if the patient had knee pain that doesn't come and go with activity and is involved at rest. And I'm thinking, do they have an osteosarcoma in that knee that needs further evaluation? PTs in our state can do x-rays and MRIs as well. So I just wanted you guys to be aware. It's a seven-year degree. It's not just a four-year, oh, you had ACL surgery, go see a PT. You're going to do some quad sets. She's going to throw you on the bike. That is not what PTs do anymore. That is not how this field has evolved. Out of 1,000 Colorado athletes, one to three might have serious cardiac arrests per year, and fewer would be linked to a diagnosable heart condition. So although I'm upset and disappointed significantly because I think we just got rid of access to really good care, I think these kids are going to pay the consequences of that because I don't think that some of these speed fast clinics are giving kids what I can give them. Sorry. And it's disappointing. It's disappointing that sometimes the lobby corps has more pull than what I think would benefit patients. I would never be on a bill that would not safeguard patients. I don't think this bill was maybe completely ready, so that's what I'm going to go with for my gut. But when we come back next year, I hope you will hear that there was a lot of love and attention that went into this for patient safety. I would never get on a bill with anyone if patients were going to be at risk, ever. And so, yeah, I'm frustrated. And I hope that the lobby corps is good on their word for next year and that kids can get the access and the actual management and evaluations that they deserve and they need. So thank you. All right, thank you bill sponsors for that madam chair. I move that House bill 1231 be postponed indefinitely. All right, there's a motion in this.

I guess I'm also the chair. Members, is there any discussion? Sorry, that happened right when we were sitting here. Any quick discussion before the vote? Okay. I guess we will Pull the committee for me please Representatives of Bacon

Bradfield. At the request of the sponsors, yes.

Gilchrist. Yes.

Hartzell, yes.

Phillips. At the request of the sponsors, yes.

Story. Yes.

Lugans. Yes. Okay. Sorry, it passes the vote of 11 to 1 with one excused. Okay, the bill will be postponed indefinitely. We'll call up our next sponsors. Oh, I'm still the chair. Sorry. Okay. All right, sponsors. Who would like to go first in presenting? Just let me know when you're ready.

Madam Chair.

Members, are there any questions for the sponsors? Representative Phillips.

Oh, I was –

I'm sorry, Representative Phillips.

Oh, sorry.

That's why we were still looking at you.

Representative Lukens. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Rep. Phillips, for that question. We do have CDE available online for questions on this bill. And so I think that that question may be better poised for CDE specifically since it's specific around the special education licensure requirements. Okay. Members, are there any additional questions for the sponsors? And then we'll be sure when we call the witnesses up to have CDE log in. Okay. There are no further questions. We will move on to the witness phase. Okay. We have Megan Raines. Frank Reeves, Chris Selley, and then from CDE, Tanya Klein. So we'll see if they're online. Okay, thank you. Okay, I'll begin with Frank Reeves. go ahead and state your name, your organization, and you have three minutes. Thank you, Adam Chair and members of the committee. And thank you to our sponsors for bringing this. I'm Frank Reeves, the Director of Operations for the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance. We represent 146 districts and around 135,000 students across Colorado. CRSA strongly supports this bill, and I really want to be direct about why this matters so much to our members. The teacher shortage we've been facing for decades now is not totally inevitable. It's in part due to barriers that we have the power to remove, and this is one of those barriers. Experienced educators want to teach in Colorado. This bill clears the path by eliminating arbitrary licensure obstacles that have really very little to do with classroom competency, so qualified teachers can get into our classrooms without unnecessary delay. The bill provides technical fixes. Currently, if a teacher took time off to raise a family, care for a parent, maybe even go into administration and wanted to get back into the teaching, maybe went to the military, even for just a year or two too long, that seven-year requirement, three years and seven years would omit them from receiving a license in Colorado This would fix that and fix that obstacle of people leaving the profession for a few years for whatever reason they might. The interstate teacher mobility compact is three years old and still not agreed to, and to no fault, I see Tonya is on it, to no fault of CDE. They've probably been one of the leaders of the states that have been pushing to get this done, but there are a few states out there that just keep throwing up other barriers. So, but it's equally critical for our rural districts. A 30-day processing timeline is not a luxury, it's a lifeline. If someone applies in May, and in a rural district, really in any district, but if someone applies in May who has experience, who wants to come on, they're not going to wait till July or April, or July or August, excuse me, to get a license before they move on and move somewhere else, probably to another state. Very important that we honor that right now. So we support, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We also strongly support our annual crosswalk table requirement. Our superintendents repeatedly tell us they don't know how out-of-state licenses translate to Colorado endorsement areas. That transparency will help rural districts recruit more strategically. Again, the Rural Schools Alliance urges your support. Our students deserve the same access to qualified teachers as their urban counterparts, and this bill moves us meaningfully in that direction. Thank you for your time and for hearing me today. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to Mr. Sell. Please unmute yourself. Welcome to education. You have three minutes. Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members. My name is Chris Selley. I'm the superintendent for the Meeker School District in Northwest Colorado. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our district, we have about 650 students, so very much meet the definition of small and rural. We are in support of this bill. We are grateful that you're considering it. Really, this bill is about trying to remove roadblocks for individuals who have proven to be effective and experienced educators out of state and want to come to Colorado and continue their education career And Frank mentioned all the reasons why somebody may fall into the categories of why they don't meet the certain provisions that are in law right now. And unfortunately, it requires a legislative fix. CDE has been an incredible partner for school districts in trying to figure out how to get good quality educators licensed. But unfortunately, there's some rules that are in statute that they have to follow. And this is one opportunity for the legislature certainly to make the teacher recruitment and retention processes a lot more simplified. It provides a pathway for folks to get back into the classroom who have already proven to be successful educators. And so we certainly would encourage support of this bill. I'm grateful, again, that you are considering it and really just want to do what we can to make sure we get great people in our classrooms. Finding good teachers is really, really hard right now. I know you heard the data. That's the anecdotal message. It's really, really difficult. And so if we find great people that we know are a good fit for our community, we want to try to make that pathway to get them licensed in the state of Colorado as smooth as we possibly can. This bill is one step that helps us do that. Thank you. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to Ms. Klein. Welcome to education. Please unmute yourself and you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not here to testify. I am just here to be available for questions if there are any from the committee. Okay. Awesome. Thank you very much. We will now move into our committee discussion. We will do 10 minutes. We will start with Representative Flannell.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd be happy to. With the interstate compact, anyone coming from a compact stage, what my compact commissioners and I are presently working on is determining the like license. So coming from Utah, which is another state, if they have the like license that has been equivalized to Colorado's, it'll just be a very easy provide us your background checks, give us a copy of your out-of-state credential. We'll verify that it is indeed a valid one and issue you a credential. That is different than what happens presently. While we recognize licenses issued by other states, those individuals still need to meet all of Colorado's requirements for the degree, for the preparation. And depending upon their experience, they may have to demonstrate content knowledge. The compact eliminates that for those compact states because each state has already determined a person with a qualifying license has met that degree and has met those preparation requirements. So has met all of the requirements in that state for that state-issued credential. And so the compact states are just recognizing one license as being equivalent to what we would issue here in Colorado. Amel Bacon. Okay, Representative Bradley.

Ms. Klein. Thank you, Mr. Chair. At present, is it doable? We would have to make a few changes, but yes, it would be doable. And we would just be technically would be expediting the review of those applications. we probably run a report daily to get those applications assigned to an evaluator for review. Typically, it depends upon the time of year based on sheer volume. Summer is typically a higher volume time of year than, say, right now. Right now, we are evaluating applications, as long as we have a background check for them, within seven to 10 days of receipt. So that's That's pretty quick. In the summer, it can eke out more toward four to six weeks.

I think it's, oh, I'm sorry. I jumped the gun. Thank you. I think it is doable. So the qualifying application means as long as we have a background check to accompany that application, we can then review that application and we can work with those individuals to make sure that we have all that we need. We do go back and forth with candidates all day, every day to if they provided, say, a transcript that we can't open, we, of course, give them the opportunity to provide us with a copy of a transcript that we can. So we would certainly do that with those individuals. And as long as they cooperate, we indeed could issue them within that 30-day time period.

Thank you. I'm sorry. Yes, that is correct.

Ms. Klein. Thank you, Mr. Chair. To the first question for the compact it is a professional license So I don know if the term initial meant like the person first credential in Colorado but per the compact it is that professional credential So it would be a five year teacher license. I mean, sorry, a seven year teacher license. They used to be five. Now they're seven. As for could we require additional coursework? Per the compact, we are to issue that comparable credential. And then my understanding is that any renewal requirements that we would require of anybody with a professional license would then apply to that individual who is renewing that professional license. I don't know that there is anything that would prevent a requirement for additional coursework for certain things. I honestly can't speak to that. I don't know. I believe that you could. I believe that the state board could.

Ms. Klein. Thank you. I am not a special education expert, so I can't speak to that. I can speak to licensure requirements.

Let's stop there. Ms. Klein. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I need a little bit of clarification. With this legislation, when we issue a credential to an individual with a compact in the via the compact, we are just issuing them the equivalent credential that we offer. It would then be up to the districts who are placing them in the position to determine if they would need additional training or whatever for that position. But if, say, for example, they're coming in and they're getting a special education generalist endorsement, a school or district could place that individual in a special education generalist position, just like they could somebody who had applied and met every other criteria.

Ms. Klein. Thank you, Mr. Chair. They then need to meet all of the requirements that, say, an in-state candidate would have to meet when they apply. We certainly recognize out-of-state experience. And so with the removal of the seven years, that will be easier for us to recognize that experience in case it does fall outside of that seven-year span. They then meet the degree and the program requirement. They are able to waive the demonstration of content knowledge requirements, so they would not be required to, say, take a praxis exam. Thank you. Any other questions?

Ms. Klein. Thank you. Again, it depends upon the season. It depends upon the time of year. We typically do not distinguish between application types. We evaluate applications based on their date of application.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We presently have nine licensing consultants that evaluate applications. Is there any other questions for this panel of witnesses? Going once, going twice. Thank you all for your time today, and thank you for your patience as we are waiting for committee. Is there anybody else online or in the room that wishes to testify on or against House Bill 126? Seeing none, the testimony phase is over. Madam Chair. Madam Chair.

There's a motion and a second.

Is there any questions on Amendment L3? Seeing none, is there any objection to Amendment L3? Seeing none, Amendment L3 passes without objection. Bill sponsors, are there any other amendments? Are there any amendments from the committee? Seeing none, the amendment phase is closed. Madam Chair.

Representative Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and honored to be with Madam Chair on this bill. And I did a lot of stakeholding when this bill came about before I put my name on with my rural school districts. I have 34 of them. To make sure we're holding them to the same accountability we have for our teachers in Colorado, this is simply just striking the seven-year requirement. So when people have life that happens, they can still come back into education to fill that void. Good bill, vote yes.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move Senate Bill 126 as amended to the committee of the whole.

Representative Stewart. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, bill sponsors, for taking rural Colorado into account with this amazing bill. And now I'm just talking. Okay. But I do appreciate, thank you, rural schools and bill sponsors for this tremendous effort.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.