adult basic education

By Ed Sealover
Denver Business Journal

Does a bill need business groups to support it to be considered a pro-business bill? Or are backers' statements that a new law is needed to help Colorado companies good enough?

House Bill 1005, sponsored by Aurora Democratic state Reps. Rhonda Fields and John Buckner, is one of those rare pieces of legislation that sits at a crossroads of those questions.

The measure passed out of the House Education Committee by a 12-1 vote Monday and is on to the House Appropriations Committee.

Senior policy analyst Frank Waterous testified in favor of House Bill 13-1005 today before the House Education Committee.

This bill would create a pilot program that would combine adult basic-education coursework with post-secondary skills training – an effort aimed at helping low-literacy working-age adult students "acquire the educational and technical skills they need for successful participation in the 21^st century workforce," Waterous testified. The pilot program is based on a successful education model used in other states.

By 2019, Colorado will have nearly 300,000 new openings in the "middle-skill" jobs category – positions that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year post-secondary degree. But the state does not have enough sufficiently trained workers to fill these solid, well-paying positions, according to a report released today.