Colorado § 22-2-501 Legislative declaration

Colorado Statutes

§ 22-2-501 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 22-2-501

Title 22Education

Art.Department - Commissioner

This text of Colorado § 22-2-501 (Legislative declaration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-2-501 (2026).

Text

(1)The general assembly hereby finds that:

(a)Teachers have a great impact in student achievement. Evidence shows that teacher quality can account for the majority of variances in student learning and test scores.

(b)The teaching and learning conditions under which teachers practice their profession, though often overlooked, are essential elements to student achievement and teacher retention. These conditions must be systematically studied and addressed for Colorado to develop a critical mass of teachers who are well prepared to teach and who will remain in hardest-to-staff schools long enough to make a significant difference for students and their families.

(c)Research also demonstrates that the negative effects of teacher shortages and distribution challenges have a dispr

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(1) The general assembly hereby finds
that:

(a) Teachers have a great impact in student achievement. Evidence shows
that teacher quality can account for the majority of variances in student learning
and test scores.

(b) The teaching and learning conditions under which teachers practice their
profession, though often overlooked, are essential elements to student
achievement and teacher retention. These conditions must be systematically
studied and addressed for Colorado to develop a critical mass of teachers who are
well prepared to teach and who will remain in hardest-to-staff schools long enough
to make a significant difference for students and their families.

(c) Research also demonstrates that the negative effects of teacher
shortages and distribution challenges have a disproportionate impact on the
nation's most disadvantaged students, leaving poor and minority children more
likely to be taught by less-qualified and under-prepared teachers.

(d) Teachers who are truly highly qualified teach well-designed, standards-based lessons and are able to teach those lessons successfully because they know
how and why their students learn. These teachers work effectively with their
colleagues to push and lead school improvement and work steadily to sharpen their
skills and increase their knowledge because they believe it is part of their
professional responsibility to do so.

(e) National board certification is a nationally accepted sign of quality in the
teaching profession and offers a nationwide standard for evaluating and
encouraging quality teaching. It is a means to recognize and reward the
accomplished teachers the state needs to build competitive, world-class schools.
National board certified teachers advance the quality of teaching and learning by
maintaining high and rigorous standards for what accomplished teachers should
know and be able to do.

(2) The general assembly further finds and declares that, for purposes of
section 17 of article IX of the state constitution, implementation of measures
designed to improve teacher quality, recruitment, and retention through this part 5
and through House Bill 08-1384, as enacted at the second regular session of the
sixty-sixth general assembly, is a critical element of accountable education reform,
accountable programs to meet state academic standards, and performance
incentives for teachers and, therefore, may receive funding from the state
education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution.