The Board of Education has determined that the legislative focus should be on continuous student improvement. The Board would like to see this supported through comprehensive education, thorough and uniform funding, and community decision making.

The Board has also put together a set of guiding questions for proposed legislation.

 Continuous Student Improvement  

• The core responsibility of a local school board is to adopt and implement policies and practices that increase student achievement.
• The LPS Board supports the state's model content standards and assessments and believes that financial resources must be provided to implement both, which includes teacher training, intervention programs, and aligned curriculum and instruction.
• A full body of evidence, including multiple assessments given over time, is necessary to make judgments about school performance.

Comprehensive Education

• The LPS Board places a high value on providing curricular, extracurricular, and elective offerings for all students that are in alignment with the priorities and values of the community.
• The LPS Board supports multiple pathways for students to achieve post-secondary success after high school.

Thorough and Uniform Funding

• Local school boards must be provided the financial resources necessary to exercise control of instruction in their schools and implement the state's standards-based education.
• Priority should be placed on restoring lost funding before new mandates are considered.
• Funding must be sufficient to graduate productive, life-long learners.

Community Decision Making

• Community control of public schools is vested in local school boards and provided by the Colorado Constitution.
• Instructional decisions should be driven by the community's values and priorities, not by outside interests. A local board should have the flexibility to change curricular requirements as necessary to align with community priorities.

Responsive

• Is this required by state or federal law?
• Was comprehensive data used to define the problem and desired outcomes?
• Were experts and school officials who administer the affected programs engaged?

Efficient

• Will it streamline or add layers of bureaucracy?
• Is it redundant or inefficient?
• Are current staffing levels sufficient to comply with additional requirements?

Accountable

• Are there measurable outcomes to be achieved by this change?
• Is there adequate state funding to pay for all direct local costs?
• Are there models in existence that may provide better outcomes?

Local-State Partnerships

• Have local officials in school districts been consulted?
• Has there been collaboration between districts and state agencies?