In the Colorado governor’s race, K-12 public education is hardly mentioned on the campaign trail or in debates. But we have seen governors use the bully pulpit to move the system in ways to better serve our students. It can happen again.
I came to Colorado in 1990 and watched Gov. Roy Romer’s focus on K-12 issues grow rapidly, so much so that after completing his third term he went on to become the superintendent of schools in Los Angeles. As governor, he became the most passionate spokesman for clear, high standards.
His successor followed suit. Gov. Bill Owens pushed for accountability tied to our new standards, while also building on Romer’s support for expanded choice.
Eight years later, we stayed the course. Gov. Bill Ritter’s major legislative education accomplishment, Colorado’s Achievement Plan for Kids in 2008, is still, nominally, in place.
But neither John Hickenlooper nor Jared Polis have provided strong leadership on K-12 education. Both were more aligned with the business community’s focus on training students for the workplace — which is not education.
We have gone too long without a state leader who will articulate why schools matter, and why learning matters. One who will point to current academic results and insist, relentlessly, that we must do better.
Our next governor need not dive into how students perform on all 12 academic disciplines in the Colorado Academic Standards. But he or she can target the most fundamental skill we expect of a good public education, the ability to read well.
Several governors (Mike DeWine in Ohio and Kathy Hochul in New York, among them) have led efforts to improve the reading skills of students in their state.
In his second term, Polis supported math and science initiatives. He finally touched on reading in his next-to-last State of the State address. “Reading helps young people cultivate their dreams — dreams that grow as they grow.”
Too little too late.
At times Polis sounded so preoccupied with what happens after the K-12 years that he was unaware of the decline in reading skills during his tenure. In a 2024 interview he said: “Of course people need to read, but reading alone or mathematical skills at grade level alone, those are not the requisite skills for many of the wonderful jobs that we have today and tomorrow. … But even if somehow every student was proficient in math and reading, that doesn’t correlate to are they ready for success in having good jobs.”
“Even if”? We first used CMAS as our state assessment for grades 3-8 in 2016. Is it possible Polis was not aware that the majority of Colorado students have never been able to “achieve at grade level” on CMAS tests? In English language arts, we have never seen 50% of our students, in any of these grades, “meet expectations.” (In math, even lower.)
On NAEP, the national test given biannually, results in 2024 showed that reading scores in Colorado have declined since 2013: The percentage scoring at or above proficient has dropped five points in fourth grade (now just 36%) and eighth grade (now 35%).
Most alarming is the rising percentage of students scoring in NAEP’s lowest performance category, “below basic.” For both grades, the percentage of Colorado students reading at below basic is higher than it has been for most of the past 20 years — fourth graders at 35%, eighth graders 26%.
As a result, a huge number of these eighth graders enter ninth grade unable to comprehend the material in their high school courses. Few high schools have the resources to address the reading difficulties in their incoming students. One reading interventionist cannot perform miracles.
Another reason a new approach is needed: The legislature and the Colorado Department of Education have maintained a decades-long and much-too-narrow focus on grades K-3. The state has spent over $300 million to implement the READ Act since 2013. Important work. But little after third grade. CDE’s 2025-28 strategic plan continues this myopia: not a word on reading after grade 3.
Close to 12,000 students complete third grade still identified as reading well below grade level, and are placed on a READ plan in fourth grade. As they continue to move through the system, many do not get the support they need. Their inability to read well (and no doubt their frustration) continues. It is depressing to note that, according to the most recent state data, roughly 5,000 students enter high school still on a READ plan.
In all, we see tens of thousands of K-12 students who struggle to read well. We know it is much more than a K-3 problem.
Will our next governor make reading a priority?
What a welcome change this would be.
Peter Huidekoper Jr., of Parker, is the former coordinator of the Colorado Education Policy Fellowship Program and the author of the Another View newsletter, which focuses on education issues.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.
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