Reassessing Colorado’s K-12 education system is a big job. So big, evidently, that Gov. John Hickenlooper isn’t going to wait for the legislature to get around to it. Certainly not after the state Senate’s ruling Republicans snuffed out legislation that would have gotten the ball rolling during the 2017 session.

Hence, the governor’s executive order this week setting in motion, more or less, what the short-lived House Bill 1287 had attempted. The task will be handed to Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne and the currently dormant Education Leadership Council. Chalkbeat Colorado’s Yesenia Robles reports:

The new-look council will identify statewide priorities for how to better educate the state’s children so they can contribute to Colorado’s workforce, according to the order.

In an interview Thursday with Chalkbeat, Lynne said she expects the plan to include recommendations for how the governor’s office, relevant state departments, the legislature or others can work toward the state’s goals.

… Lynne said various state departments and groups already work on initiatives tied to education, but “we don’t have a place where we weave it all together.”

According to Robles, the group will convene in August and spend its first year setting priorities. It is supposed to give recommendations for possible legislation by 2018 or 2019.

Republicans who had a hand in derailing the legislative version in April said at the time they worried its work would serve as a vehicle for advocating future tax hikes.