Political Quotes

“Relationships between districts and their employees can at times be turbulent. It is challenging for school board members, and it is challenging for educators. Most of all, it is challenging and frustrating for the parents of kids who are in the schools. What this amendment does is it helps to provide a degree of certainty and predictability with regard to collective bargaining agreements that are in place. As we move forward with the ESEA reauthorization, we should focus on what needs to be fixed and what doesn't need to be fixed. The truth is many collective bargaining agreements in place are strong and are an asset to the districts that have them. We have many school districts in Colorado that have entered collective bargaining agreements with their educators, agreements that include pay for performance, that include quality measures; and we should encourage that kind of creativity at the district level. The more we can do to provide the kind of stability within this regime as we switch to a post-No Child Left Behind era, providing the predictability for the educators who are in the classroom every day and who are doing the very best they can to educate our kids, is a tenet that, hopefully, we all agree on and is one that is reflected in this amendment, which I strongly support.”