Colorado currently has nearly ten different programs where learners can earn college credits and quality credentials in high school. However, these programs can be expensive to administer and dependent on the right higher education partner, making them inequitably accessed by many Colorado students.
House Bill 22-1215, sponsored by Reps. Julie McCluskie and Jennifer Bacon, established the Secondary, Postsecondary, and Work-based Learning Integration Task Force (1215 Task Force). This workforce exists to develop and recommend policies, laws, and rules to support the equitable and sustainable expansion and alignment of programs that bring these learning opportunities to every region of the state.
Colorado Succeeds and its partners have been strong supporters of this initiative, supporting the bill with testimonies through committee hearings last session and continuing to contribute their expertise to help the task force accomplish its intended mission. Colorado Succeeds’ board member Joe Kuntner, Managing Director at Slalom, and Colorado Succeeds’ Communications Manager, Amadou Dieng, are among 24 task force members.
The task force members met four times from July to November 2022 to examine existing programs, including their funding and outcomes, asking questions and hearing directly from various stakeholder groups.
In the recently published Interim Report, the task force has identified several challenges in the current system and potential areas of exploration.
The task force members:
- Identified a disconnect between secondary, higher education, and business in terms of preparing Colorado learners for future jobs.
- Set the intention to “blur” the boundaries between high school, college, and the workforce to create a singular, more flexible, and learner-centered approach system that every learner may access.
- Identified key levers that the state can use to build and support the future system.
The 1215 task force meetings will resume after the Colorado General Assembly 2023 regular session to formalize more formal recommendations to accompany the final report to be published in December 2023.
View the full 1215 Interim Report here.
