Two Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday presented a bill in the House Education Committee that would lay the groundwork for an enhanced high school degree program serving as a pipeline from the classroom to mid-level jobs.

HB15-1270, sponsored by House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, and Rep. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, creates the framework for partnerships between high schools and businesses in the information technology as well as science, engineering, math and technology fields. Along with a curriculum of both high school and college-level classes, students at such designated P-Tech schools would also get internships, mentoring and other practical workplace training.

At Wednesday’s committee hearing, Duran said the combination of a high school and an associate degree through P-Tech is “a meaningful first step to continue to build partnerships between business and education to make sure students have access to good-paying jobs.”

The bill has the backing of industry representatives and school-reform advocates. “A high school diploma does not meet today’s job requirement,” said Ray Johnson, Colorado corporate citizenship & corporate affairs manager at tech giant IBM, in a letter cited by Duran during the hearing.

Luke Ragland, vice president of the Denver-based non-profit Colorado Succeeds (the self-proclaimed “business voice for education”) affirmed that many employers are not able to hire staff for middle-skilled jobs since qualified applicants are scarce.

The bill, which passed on an 8-3 vote, was sent to the House Appropriations Committee, where its fiscal impact will be further debated. The cost of adding two years of education after the 12th grade will be $4.1 million by fiscal year 2021-22, according to the bill’s fiscal note. Duran proposed an amendment to make clear the program would be paid for through existing concurrent enrollment and per-pupil funding structures. She added that after the amendment passed, she would go on and request a new, adjusted fiscal note.

The price tag was one of several issues lawmakers raised during the committee hearing. Rep. Jim Wilson, R-Salida, asked questions on where the three intended pilot schools be located, pushing for a scope going above and beyond the Denver metro area. He also urged that the Workforce Development Council make a conscious effort to streamline P-Tech with other, comparable programs.

But what divided legislators most was an ultimately unsuccessful amendment Rep. Justin Everett, R-Littleton, proposed to exclude the P-Tech academies from standardized student performance tests. He argued the program would put students in such schools at a disadvantage since the industry-aligned curriculum focuses heavily on field-specific career skill development. Others, among them Rep. Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, countered that the mission statement of existing programs such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers includes the idea behind P-Tech. The assessment issue remained unresolved and is likely to resurface as the bill makes its way through the legislative mills.

The bill, which is part of the Colorado Ready to Work bundle of proposed workforce development legislation lawmakers introduced earlier this month, has bi-partisan Senate sponsors, Sens. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, and Laura Woods, R-Arvada.

In his State of the State address in January, Gov. John Hickenlooper made workforce development a legislative priority. The proposed bill is modeled after similar programs implemented across the nation such as the first Pathways in Technology Early College High School started in Brooklyn in 2011, mentioned by President Obama in his 2013 State of the Union Address.

— Lars@coloradostatesman.com