New laws will help fill gaps for students impacted by learning disruptions as well as address teacher shortages

DENVER, CO – Today, the Governor signed two Colorado Comeback bills into law that will provide tutoring for K-12 students across Colorado – helping to address learning loss kids endured during the pandemic as well as support the state’s educator workforce. 

HB21-1234, sponsored by Senators Moreno and Rankin, allocates $5 million to the newly created Colorado high-impact tutoring program to provide grant funding to local education providers, to create high-impact tutoring programs to address student learning loss and unfinished learning resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Between school closures, at-home learning and social isolation, students have faced some of the toughest challenges of this pandemic,” said Senator Moreno (D-Commerce City). “This law will invest in our kids’ future by making high-impact tutoring available to address the gaps in student learning – giving them a chance to not only catch up but succeed going forward.”

Due to the learning disruptions of the last year, Colorado K-12 students are now somewhere between 3-9 months behind, and it’s even worse for our students of color and lower socioeconomic status. This law will work to fill in those gaps.

SB21-185, sponsored by Senator Rachel Zenzinger, will help reduce the teacher shortage in Colorado by empowering local leaders to recruit subject matter experts into the educator workforce, supporting the development of a workforce that more closely reflects the diversity of Colorado’s students, and expanding pathways into the profession.

“Especially after such a challenging year for educators, we must implement strategies that will help attract, recruit, and retain talented teachers so that we have the workforce we need to continue guiding students’ educational success,” said Senator Zenzinger (D-Arvada). “This new law will help reduce the teacher shortage, expand and create new pathways into the profession, diversify our educator workforce to meet the unique needs of all students, and raise the profile of the teaching profession. These resources will help pave the way for the most talented educators to enter the profession and serve as effective and inspiring role models for Colorado’s future leaders.”