Colorado Education Commissioner Katy Anthes and state Rep. Bob Rankin, a Carbondale Republican, will lead a group of lawmakers, state and school officials and community members charged with reimagining Colorado public schools, the governor’s office announced Tuesday.
Anthes and Rankin will serve as co-chairs for the governor’s repurposed Education Leadership Council.
The council was established in 2011 but became inactive. The 25-member task force’s new mission is to develop a strategic vision for the state’s public school system to help better prepare students for the 21st century workforce.
Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, reassembled the council earlier this year after a bill sponsored by Rankin to create a similar group died during the legislative process. Rankin’s bill was killed in part because Republicans in the state Senate were worried that it was a ruse to ask voters for tax increases.
Rankin and others involved in the creation of the panel have said asking voters to approve more money for schools is a possibility, but that it was not a foregone conclusion.
The task force is supposed to spend its first year setting priorities and give recommendations for possible legislation by 2018 or 2019.
Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne was supposed to lead the task force. However, with Lynne running for governor, Anthes stepped in to take her place as co-chair. Lynne remains a member of the group.
Here is the complete list of the council’s members:
For terms expiring Aug. 4, 2019:
- Katy Anthes, education commissioner
- State Rep. Janet P. Buckner, an Aurora Democrat
- Stephanie Copeland of Denver, executive director of the Office of Economic Development and International Trade
- Ellen J. Golombek, executive director of the Department of Labor and Employment
- State Rep. Millie Anne Hamner, a Dillon Democrat
- Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne
- Mary Anne Meacham-Snyder, Department of Human Services
- State Rep. Bob Rankin, a Carbondale Republican
- Kim Hunter Reed, executive director of the Department of Higher Education
- Angelika Schroeder, chair of the State Board of Education
- State Sen. Nancy Todd, an Aurora Democrat
For terms expiring Aug. 4, 2020:
- Don Lee Anderson
- Felicia A. Casto of Whitewater, teacher
- Luis Alberto Colon, chair of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education
- Patricia Anne Erjavec, president of Pueblo Community College
- Tim Foster of Grand Junction, president of Colorado Mesa University
- Richard Lorin Garcia
- Brandon LaChance, executive director of the North Routt Community Charter School
- Barbara O’Brien, vice president of the Denver school board
- State Sen. Kevin Priola, a Henderson Republican
- Sue Elizabeth Renner
- Kyle Andrew Sickman, business member of the Colorado Workforce Development Council
- Daniel J. Snowberger, superintendent of the Durango school district
- Leroy James Williams
- Rep. James Wilson, a Salida Republican