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Colorado Education Interests Spend Millions On Lobbying Mostly To Retain, Gain Funding - Denver, CO - Education interests spent more than $20.5 million to lobby state government from July 2015 through March this year.
Jesse Paul / Colorado Sun
When she was a brand-new legislator besieged by lobbyists at the entrance to the Senate floor, state Sen. Rachel Zenzinger felt a tap on the shoulder from a man telling her she was late for her next committee. She rushed to the elevator, and the man accompanied her all the way to the committee room, securing several minutes of one-on-one time to make the case for his client’s bill.
When Zenzinger pushed open the door to the committee hearing room, there was no one else there. The meeting wasn’t even close to starting.
Now that Zenzinger serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee, education lobbyists don’t have to use creative tactics to get her attention. She meets weekly with key players ranging from the Colorado Education Association to Democrats for Education Reform to go over upcoming bills and hear their concerns.
Stacey Rupolo/Chalkbet
A year into a pandemic that has forced more than 350,000 Hoosier students to learn remotely, Indiana House lawmakers have proposed full funding for schools that provide virtual education including online-only schools that have long received lower allocations.
Nearly 18,000 students now attend dedicated virtual schools a 65% jump from last school year. That figure is dwarfed by the number of children in brick-and-mortar schools who are now learning virtually due to the pandemic.
The proposal to inject more money into virtual education, part of the draft budget released by the House Republicans last week, is a victory for advocates of online-only schools who say growing awareness is helping them win support for full funding. Indiana has long funded virtual schools at a lower rate than in-person schools based on the theory that online education is less costly than traditional instruction.