Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien will testify on
The House Education and Labor Committee is holding the hearing entitled "Building on What Works With Charter Schools" at 8:00 a.m. MDT (10:00 a.m. EDT) on Thursday to discuss how charter schools can be an effective tool in education reform. President Barack Obama has called for more encouragement of charter schools, while maintaining strict accountability to help boost student achievement levels.
Lt. Gov. O'Brien, while President of the Colorado Children's Campaign, was a leading advocate in building a coalition and getting Colorado's charter school bill passed in 1993, the third in the nation to pass a charter school law. Charter schools now serve seven percent of the student population, double the national average.
"Charter schools are incubators of innovation that is then replicated and diffused throughout our public school system. Districts are learning every day from successful models and can deploy their knowledge in other schools," said Lt. Gov. O'Brien.
