Senate Bill 10-191

Great Teacher and Leaders: Ensuring Quality Instruction through Educator

Effectiveness
Sponsors: Sen. Johnston & Sen. Spence and Rep. Scanlan & Rep. Murray

What the Great Teachers and Leaders Bill Does:

1) Revises the Colorado Statutes to ensure that:

• Every principal is evaluated by fair and valid methods, at least two-thirds of which
are determined by the academic growth of students and the demonstrated effectiveness
or increase in effectiveness of their teachers.
• Schools can hire non-probationary teachers by mutual consent. This allows
teachers multiple opportunities to earn a position based on the merits, and allows
districts to place teachers on unpaid leave if they don’t earn a position over the course of
2 years.
• A teacher can earn tenure based on demonstrating three consecutive years of
effectiveness; tenured teachers earning consecutive years of ineffective rating will return
to probationary status rather than being dismissed.

2) Strengthens the Governor’s Council on Educator Effectiveness by ensuring that the

Council’s recommendations address the following key issues:
• The council will determine how to use fair, transparent, timely, and valid methods to
define and measure teacher effectiveness, where at least 50% of the evaluation is
determined by the academic growth of their students.
• Four members of the council are teachers and all recommendations from the
council must be made by consensus, ensuring that any evaluation system the council
recommends will be approved by teachers.
• Making sure highly effective teachers and principals have access to career ladders
that will provide them additional pay and additional responsibility for sharing effective
practices with other educators statewide.
• Ensures that all teachers will have a meaningful opportunity to improve their
effectiveness.
• Requires the Council to make recommendations on these issues by December 2010.
• Requires the State Board to promulgate rules based on the Council’s
recommendations by March 31, 2011.

This bill does NOT change or remove any due process rights for teachers.

Why this Bill is Important:

• Research shows that an effective teacher and an effective principal are the two most
important variables in improving student achievement: the only way to close the
achievement gap and transform public education is through recruiting, developing and
retaining great teachers and great leaders
• Colorado fell short in round 1 of Race to the Top. This bill will help Colorado regain its
place as a national leader on education policy and make Colorado eligible for hundreds of
millions of dollars in competitive federal grants like Race to the Top and others.
• It finally incentivizes principals to do a better job of supporting teachers when their own
evaluations are tied to their teachers’ success
 • Helps us retain our best teachers and principals by offering them challenging new career
ladders that offer them more pay and more responsibility to support their fellow educators
in improving their practice.
• Prevents young and promising teachers from being dismissed because their performance
has not yet earned them tenure, and prevents principals from prematurely granting tenure
to teachers who have not demonstrated high levels of effectiveness
• Prevents a teacher from being forced into a school where he/she does not want to teach
and prevents principals and leadership teams from taking a teacher they don’t think is the
right fit for their program
Supporters of SB 10-191 include:

A+ Denver • Club 20 • Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce • BizCARES • Project

VOYCE
Urban League of Metropolitan Denver • Foundation for Educational Excellence • Stand
for Children
Colorado Children’s Campaign • Colorado Competitive Council • Metro Organization for
People
Colorado Succeeds • Democrats for Education Reform – Colorado • Action 22 • Every
Child Matters
Padres Unidos • Colorado Common Good • Education Reform Now • Tennyson Center for
Children
Colorado Concern • Metropolitan State College of Denver • Grand Junction Chamber of
Commerce
Northeast Denver Principals Leadership Council • Seeking Common Ground • Urban Peak

Bruce Benson, University of Colorado Neal Groff, The Madison Group

Steve Farber, Brownstein Hyatt Farber
Schreck
Dennis Mullen, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers
Mario Carrera, Entravision Communications
Greg Anton, Anton Collins Mitchell
Tim Brown, SIGNLanguage
Gary Meggison, The Weitz Company
Mark Campbell, Southwestern Investment
Group
Rob Cohen, The IMA Financial Group
R. Stanton Dodge, DISH Network
John Freyer, Land Title Guarantee Company
Jay Kamlet, Kamlet Reichert
James Kleckner, Anadarko Petroleum
Corporation
Pat Hamill, Oakwood Homes
Dick Robinson, Robinson Dairy
Dan Ritchie, Denver Center for the
Performing Arts
Walter Isenberg, Sage Hospitality
A. Barry Hirschfeld, A.B. Hirschfeld
Roger Hutson, HRM Resources
Ken Ross, Pinnacol Assurance
Bill Hybl, Broadmoor Hotel
 Beth Soberg, United HealthCare
Dr. Steve Jordan, Metro State College of
Denver
Buz Koelbel Jr., Koelbel and Company
Don Kortz, Fuller Real Estate
Linda Childears, Daniels Fund
David McReynolds, Columbine Health Plan
Kay Norton, University of Northern Colorado
David Palmer, Greenberg Traurig
Ray Pittman, Pittman Development
K.C. Veio, Alvarado Kline Veio

The Honorable Federico Peña • Sam Gary • Francisco Garcia • Cathey Finlon • Kristin
Richardson
Brooke Brown • Rich Rainaldi & Martha Records • Ron Williams • Linda Shoemaker •
Michael Brewer

Questions - Contact Moira Cullen at 303-868-8452, Lindsay Neil at 303-725-3677, or Erin Silver at
303-921-2402