DENVER | Parents of Colorado schoolchildren inched closer toward gaining guaranteed time off work to attend school obligations such as parent-teacher conferences Monday, Jan. 25, despite some procedural confusion at the State Capitol.
The state House Education Committee, chaired by Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, heard testimony from dozens of policy advisors, educators, parents and students from across the metro area Monday afternoon urging the committee to pass House Bill 1002, also known as the parental involvement bill. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Janet Buckner, D-Aurora, would require employers with more than 50 employees to annually grant up to 18 hours of unpaid time off to workers seeking to attend parent-teacher conferences and some other limited meetings related to students’ behavior at school.
“Having parents fully engaged in their child’s education is absolutely critical, and it’s a well-known fact that it leads to more successful outcomes for children,” Buckner said at the committee meeting.
But the bill, which was introduced on the first day of the legislative session on Jan. 13, was not immune to partisan quarreling within the 11-member committee.
After an amendment proposed by Buckner passed by a margin of 6-3, an unexpected substitute amendment proposed by Rep. JoAnn Windholz, R-Commerce City, caused a stir at the conclusion of the otherwise calm proceedings. Windholz’ amendment initially failed when no other committee members seconded it, though several committee members questioned how quickly Pettersen squashed members’ opportunity to respond. The committee quickly went into a recess and, upon reconvening, laid the measure over in the amendment phase, citing Rep. Kevin Priola’s, R-Henderson, inability to attend the final vote.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” Buckner said. “I’m anxious, I’m new, it’s my first bill, and I don’t want to put it all on that, but I just wanted to have some closure. … I’m confident that we’re going to get it out of here and get to the floor.”
HB 1002 is the first piece of legislation Buckner has sponsored as a state representative. She was chosen for the seat formerly held by her late husband, John Buckner, after his death last May.
Co-sponsored by Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, in the House and by Sen. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood in the state Senate, the bill is largely a rehash of legislation that was passed in 2009 and sunset in 2015.
“There is a fear factor that is associated with getting some time off to participate in what’s happening in your kid’s life,” Fields said. “When you have to put food on the table, and there’s no law to support time off with no pay, then you can’t participate. It doesn’t matter if it’s before school or after school. Depending on these work shifts, sometimes it’s just not that flexible.”
Janet Buckner’s amendment removes the sunset provision from the original 2009 verbiage and adds a requirement that schools notify parents of the measure’s potential benefits, if the bill passes the legislature.
Windholz said Tuesday that her amendment takes out all new verbiage and would restore the bill to the version that was passed in 2009.
“The amendment was only one more line, and it basically took out the new piece that had been inserted,” she said. “(The purpose) was to take it back to the ’09 bill.”
Buckner said that she believes Windholz is aiming to defray schools’ costs tied to notifying parents, even though Buckner said she has spoken with many school officials who identified such costs as a nonissue.
“All of the administrators that I talked to said, ‘As many emails as we send out to parents, as many communications as we send out to parents — it wouldn’t have a significant impact,’” Buckner said. “They were happy to communicate in any way they could to let parents know that this (would be) something available for them.”
In an effort to appease both schools and businesses, this year’s parental involvement bill ditches much of the more ambitious language found in the 2015 version.
“This year, we have worked with the business community to reach a bill that is acceptable to a broad coalition of stakeholders,” Buckner said.
Last year’s version of the bill extended guaranteed time off to parents of pre-kindergarten students and expanded reasons to take leave to achievement ceremonies such as graduations. This year’s bill nixes both of those broader prongs.
“We would oppose the bill if (Rep. Buckner’s) amendment doesn’t get on the bill, because we feel strongly that the language that we negotiated in 2009 is appropriate between employers and employees and that it works,” said Loren Furman, senior vice president of state and federal relations with the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, a group that opposed last year’s parental involvement bill. “We want to be really careful with how broadly these laws are drafted.”
Furman said that CACI would remain neutral on this year’s version of the bill as long as Buckner’s amendment remains intact and the measure continues to closely align with its 2009 counterpart.
The 2015 parental involvement legislation passed the state House but failed to pass in the Republican-controlled state Senate.
The next meeting of the state House Education Committee is slated for Jan. 27.