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February 8, 2022 SB 22-070
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 22-0247
Sen. Bridges
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
February 8, 2022
Senate Education
Anna Gerstle | 303-866-4375
Anna.Gerstle@state.co.us
Bill Topic: K-12 LICENSED PERSONNEL PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☐ Local Government
☒ School District
The bill make changes to performance evaluations for K-12 licensed personnel,
including requiring that student academic performance make up 30 percent of a
teacher’s or principal’s evaluation. The bill increases state and school district
expenditures on an ongoing basis.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2022-23, the bill requires an appropriation of $452,973 to the Colorado
Department of Education.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under SB 22-070
Budget Year
FY 2022-23
Out Year
FY 2023-24
Revenue - -
Expenditures General Fund $452,973 $151,917
FTE 0.1 FTE -
Transfers - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $67,946 $22,788
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February 8, 2022 SB 22-070
Summary of Legislation
The bill make changes to performance evaluations for K-12 licensed personnel, as described below.
Evaluations for 2021-22 and 2022-23. Under the bill, evaluation ratings for licensed personnel in the
2021-22 and 2022-23 school years must not include measures of student academic growth that are
based on the Colorado academic growth model, or a school, school district, or boards of cooperative
education services’ (BOCES) performance plan.
Student performance measures. For evaluations conducted beginning in the 2023-24 school year, the
State Board of Education (SBE) must promulgate rules ensuring that 30 percent of a teacher or
principal’s evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the teacher’s students or students in
the principal’s school, with the remainder based on attainment of quality standards. This applies to
evaluations using the state model or locally developed licensed performance evaluation systems.
Up to 10 percent of an evaluation may be based on collective academic performance measures of all
students enrolled in a school, or a grade level within the school, but may not include students not
enrolled at the school. For personnel that have been employed by the district or BOCES for one school
year or less, evaluations must not include collective measures of student performance and must not
be based on scores on statewide assessments.
State duties. For evaluations beginning in the 2023-24 school year, the Colorado Department of
Education (CDE) must:
create a modified rubric for measuring the performance for personnel rated as highly effective for
at least three consecutive school years;
create rubrics for measuring performance of personnel in specialized teacher or principal roles, in
collaboration with school districts and BOCES;
provide evaluator training at no cost to school districts and BOCES;
provide guidelines for considering professional growth achievements as proof that they meet
quality standards; and
provide information on best practices for conducting personnel evaluations.
Definitions and deadlines. The bill clarifies the definition of licensed personnel, and requires that a
school district or BOCES complete written evaluation for all licensed personnel and report aggregate
performance ratings to CDE by June 30 of the recently completed school year.
Innovative methods and training. The bill encourages school districts and BOCES to experiment with
innovative methods of observation, which may include observations by mentors, coaches, peers,
department leaders, video, or digital recording, and to provide training to multiple people to serve as
an evaluator to allow a licensee to request an alternative evaluator.
Background
Under current law, all licensed educators must be evaluated annually. Districts and BOCES may use
the state model performance evaluation system (COPMS) or develop a local evaluation system that
meets state requirements. Fifty percent of the evaluation must be based on quality standards set by Page 3
February 8, 2022 SB 22-070
the SBE, and 50 percent of teacher and principal evaluation must be based on student academic
growth. For the 2020-21 school year, evaluation ratings for licensed personnel did not include
consideration of student academic growth or other student performance measures.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in CDE by $452,973 in FY 2022-23, and by $151,917 in FY 2023-24
from the General Fund. Expenditures are shown in Table 2 and detailed below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under SB22-070
FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24
Department of Education
Contractor – Rubrics $146,794 $46,738
Contractor – Trainings $175,000 $100,000
Contractor – Collective Measures $21,265 $5,179
Computer Programming $90,200 -
Legal Services $19,714 -
FTE – Legal Services 0.1 FTE -
Total Cost $452,973 $151,917
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Colorado Department of Education. The department requires funding to make changes to the state
model system, and to develop the required rubrics and trainings.
Computer programming. CDE will incur costs to create a new data collection field for districts
and BOCES to submit aggregate personnel performance ratings by June 30 of the year in which
the evaluations occurred. In FY 2022-23 only, it is expected to require about 722 hours, at a rate of
$125 per hour.
Rubrics. CDE will incur costs to create rubrics for highly effective educators and specialized
principal and teacher positions. Costs for the rubrics are based on vendor estimates, and include
developing the evaluations, adjusting reports to include the modified rubric, building in the
ability of evaluators to select the educators using the new rubric, and ongoing maintenance. Three
specialized rubrics will be developed in collaboration with school districts at $10,000 each in the
first year, and $5,000 each in subsequent years.
Trainings. CDE will hire a consultant to develop and implement evaluator training, at no cost to
school districts or BOCES. Costs are estimated at $175,000 in FY 2022-23, and $100,000 in
subsequent years, and include developing materials, travel to provide the training, and the
creation of an online training platform.
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February 8, 2022 SB 22-070
Collective measures. CDE will incur costs to modify COPMS to allow up to 10 percent of the
evaluation to be from collective measures of student growth. The cost to modify current vendor
contracts to make these changes are estimated at be $21,265 in FY 2022-23, and $5,179 for
maintenance costs in subsequent years.
Legal services. CDE requires 200 hours of legal services to conduct rulemaking in FY 2022-23.
This equates to 0.1 FTE in the Department of Law. The fiscal note assumes that legal needs in
subsequent years will be under 100 hours, and thus absorbable. Legal services are provided at a
rate of $98.57 per hour.
Other Budget Impacts
General Fund reserve. Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund
appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve beginning in FY 2022-23. Based
on this fiscal note, the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by
$67,946 in FY 2022-23, and by $22,788 in FY 2023-24, which will decrease the amount of General Fund
available for other purposes.
School District
The bill increases one-time costs for school districts to adjust their performance evaluation systems to
align with the requirements in the bill, provide training to evaluators, and communicate changes to
personnel. One mid-sized school district estimated that costs may be approximately $50,000;
however, actual costs will vary by district. Some districts use the state model performance evaluation
system and others have developed their own evaluation systems. Currently, 148 districts, 19 charter
schools, and 13 BOCES use the Colorado Performance Management System offered by CDE.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his signature.
State Appropriations
In FY 2022-23, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $452,973 to the Colorado Department
of Education. Of this amount, $19,714 is reappropriated to the Department of Law, and 0.1 FTE.
State and Local Government Contacts
Education Law School Districts
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit: leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes.