The Senate Education Committee advanced two bills unanimously: SB26-125, which codifies disability rights protections for students into Colorado state law amid the effective collapse of federal OCR enforcement, and SB26-126, which eases licensure barriers for experienced out-of-state teachers amid a 14% teacher vacancy rate. Both bills passed 7-0 out of committee.
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Courtney Hanson (COPA) argued the bill 'requires parents to file with the very district that is accused of discriminating before they can seek help at the state level' and that 'Section 504 does not require' this, calling it an additional barrier. Jack Johnson (Disability Law Colorado) countered that 'in practice' OCR already directs families to the district first, and that the bill includes exceptions when there are 'acts of bad faith by the district' or the district is not responding in a timely manner. Yael Cohen, who signed up in opposition but stated she was 'mostly for this bill,' confirmed her primary concern was that 'the parents can't go directly to the Division of Civil Rights,' while Senator Kolker clarified the bill does not prohibit anyone from going directly to OCR or CCRD.
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“I truly believe that when we're hearing that OCR is a ghost town and we're hearing that a fifth grader is attempting suicide because the school told her she does not belong, Colorado can't wait for federal enforcement that is not coming.”
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Sign in to subscribeSenate Education Committee will come to order. Ms. Chris Phelan, please call the roll. Senator Sprite. Here. Frizzell. Excused. Kip. Here. Rich. Here. Snyder. Here. Marchman. Here. Mr. Chair. Here. And we have a quorum, and we'll begin our business. I'll be handing over the gavel to Senator Snider as my vice chair. And I are going to be presenting Senate Bill 125. So we'll just get set up and begin as soon as we get settled. Okay. You got them. Okay. The Education Committee is coming back to order. First, I'd like to welcome Senator Snyder to the committee. Oh, that's me. Okay. Okay. On that note of levity, let's go ahead and call up Senate Bill125. We have our bill sponsors ready to go. Who'd like to kick us off? Senator kolker. Thank you, Mr. Education Chair. I don't know if you've ever done education before, so as a chair. So thank you for your service and for taking on this responsibility. Senate Bill125 is a bill that really. The impetus began in April of 2025 when we held an education hearing to bring forward changes to the U.S. department of Education. We had a joint hearing scheduled,…
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