Education as a Gateway to Good-Paying Jobs

Everyone in Colorado, no matter their zip code or background, deserves the chance to earn a living wage and pursue the American Dream. Yet, too many Colorado families worry that our education and workforce system is not keeping up with the demands of today’s economy.

The economy is changing at the speed of light, and the skills needed to fill good jobs are evolving faster than our education and workforce systems. In some sectors, Colorado has double the skilled job openings as we have qualified workers to fill them. Meanwhile, one in five Coloradans is working a low-wage job that does not offer opportunities to grow financially or professionally. Even though our students score above the national average in reading and math, we are trending downward, while states like Mississippi and Louisiana are showing dramatic improvement. And, after COVID,  28% of Colorado kids are chronically absent from school.

At the same time, we continue to ask our schools to do more with less. Colorado teachers face the highest pay gap in the country. Colorado ranks 40th in school funding and 44th in higher education funding compared to other states.

Despite limited resources, communities throughout Colorado are coming together to deliver for students of all ages. Michael’s education plan will build on the excellent work happening throughout Colorado by: 

1. Making Colorado the best state to be an educator by paying teachers and others what they deserve; 
2. Connecting education and work to ensure every Coloradan has access to a living wage job, and measuring our progress by wage growth; 
3. Giving all Colorado kids a strong start by making Colorado the nation’s leader in reading and math growth; and, 
4. Encouraging innovation to ensure education keeps up with the changing economy.  

Like so many of our biggest challenges, achieving this vision requires more than good ideas. Michael will be an unwavering champion for securing the funding our schools need to deliver quality education to Colorado’s kids. He will work to, once and for all, address Colorado’s competing and conflicting constitutional budget constraints that have forced us to run an education system with one hand tied behind our backs, and make it nearly impossible for our state to invest strategically in our future. 

This work will require the commitment of our entire state.  As Governor, Michael will work with kids and parents, public schools, labor, educators, the private sector, philanthropy, and the faith community as partners on this effort.

Together, we can:

• Make Colorado the Best Place to Be an Educator by Paying Teachers and Others What They Deserve. Educators are the heart of our education system, and Colorado’s future depends on our ability to attract the best and brightest to the profession. 

  Michael will fight for the funding needed to pay educators a competitive wage and make it easier to become a teacher or early childcare professional, without lowering standards. He will grow teacher-apprenticeship programs across the state, including programs that enable paraprofessionals to earn teacher licensure through their work in schools. Michael will also work to eliminate unnecessary red tape in the credentialing process, champion efforts to design a statewide health insurance cooperative for school districts, and use state resources to attract community investment in affordable teacher housing.

• Connect Education and Work to Ensure Every Coloradan has Access to a Living Wage Job. Colorado is one of the most educated states in the nation, but historically, we have imported talent while disinvesting in our own kids. Michael will bring together employers, labor, education leaders, and communities statewide to build an integrated education-to-workforce system—one that links learning directly to good-paying jobs and keeps up with a rapidly changing economy. He will do this by: 
  • Measuring Performance by Wage Growth: Michael will ensure that Colorado measures every education and workforce program against a clear benchmark: whether participants earn meaningful wage increases and can access quality jobs. Michael will accelerate the deployment of the Colorado State Longitudinal Data System, giving students, families, and policymakers transparent access to costs, earnings, and Return On Investment data across early childhood, K-12, higher education, apprenticeships, and short-term training programs. 
  • High School That Leads to the Middle Class: Michael will make Colorado the first state where every high school student can graduate ready to earn a living wage, and with a year of career preparation and college credit. He will accomplish this goal through expansion opportunities for career training and college classes in high schools throughout the state. He will partner with schools and employers to give every high school student access to summer and school-year jobs and apprenticeships. He will work to increase access to industry credentials and support school-employer partnerships that ensure schools are teaching the skills employers actually need. Michael will push state policies to support this work and provide funding to get these programs up and running. 
  • Making Job Experience Count Toward Certificates and Degrees: Michael will help grow opportunities for work experience and industry credentials to count towards academic progress across the economy, He will expand opportunities for students to use student aid, like Pell Grants and work-study, to access a wider range of high-quality workforce training programs, and incentivize employer investment in the development of their current and future workforce. He will also work with employers, labor, and educators to better integrate education and work to meet critical workforce needs in high-growth sectors such as advanced technologies, health and behavioral health, construction and skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and education and early childhood.
  • Helping Every Student Plan for the Future: Michael will make sure every student has a clear path from the classroom to a good-paying career. He will support programs that teach kids about potential career opportunities starting in 6th grade, and efforts to ensure all students are on track to graduate high school starting in 9th grade.
  • Integrating Technology and Real-World Skills in Schools: Michael will give schools more flexibility and funding to try new ways of teaching that prepare students for a fast-changing economy. He’ll support programs that put students in the driver’s seat of new technology—like artificial intelligence—through not only teaching them how to use it responsibly, ethically, and effectively, but to design and influence new technology for the public good. He will also support programs that emphasize skills needed in any work environment such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and teamwork.
  • Aligning Higher Education with Colorado’s Economic Future: Michael will build on efforts to strengthen Colorado’s higher education system so it’s more innovative, affordable, and focused on meaningful wage growth and living wage careers. Michael is committed to supporting ways that ensure all Colorado high school students have affordable access to higher education in Colorado. He will prioritize the seamless transfer of credit between Colorado school districts, colleges, and universities. He will also continue to advocate to bring research dollars to Colorado and build on the role of higher education as a catalyst for economic development in the state.
  • Cutting Red Tape to Support an Integrated System: Michael will build on the state’s efforts to cut bureaucracy and streamline economic development, higher education, workforce, regulatory affairs, and education agencies to better serve Colorado students. The work will ensure better alignment and better coordination, and removal of unnecessary red-tape and barriers. As part of this effort, Michael will establish a single, user-friendly entry point for employers to explore and access funding for workforce development, making it easier to combine federal and state resources and close talent gaps across industries.

3. Give Every Kid a Strong Start. Making Colorado the best state for education begins with giving every kid the tools to succeed from the start. Michael will work across the whole state to prioritize:

• • Making Colorado the National Leader in Student Reading and Math Gains: Across the state, employers and colleges are raising concerns about students graduating high school without basic skills in reading and math. Performance in Colorado is trending downward, with particularly significant challenges for non-native English speakers, students with disabilities, and students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Michael will lead a state effort to ensure every kid has the tools to read confidently by the end of third grade and reach math proficiency by fifth grade. He will work with school districts and teachers to ensure: (1) Colorado teachers are trained in the latest and best methods for teaching fundamentals and can access that training at no cost; (2) Schools are equipped with high quality curricula and staffed by educators with the expertise to deliver it effectively; (3) All students receive early, regular screening for reading and math challenges; and (4) Parents have access to transparent information about their kids’ performance, and access to resources to help kids catch up. 
  • Expand Access to Mental Health: More than one-third of Colorado’s kids struggle with mental health challenges. Michael will fight for a healthcare system that treats mental and physical health together— expanding the healthcare workforce and supporting integrated care across the state, especially in places without access to mental health providers. Michael will work with school districts and teachers to implement a statewide ban on cellphones in classrooms, and keep kids safe online. He will also prioritize funding for community-led efforts that foster supportive environments where kids and parents feel connected to each other, equip schools for crises, and ensure kids have trusted adults to turn to when they need help. 
  • Support Safe Schools: Recognizing Colorado’s terrible history with school shootings and violence, Michael will secure funding for collaborative work between district attorneys, community organizations, school districts, and students to make their schools safer. 
  • Opening Colorado’s Outdoors to All Kids: Michael will expand access to sports and Colorado’s great outdoors so every child has the chance to get off their screens and get outside. He’ll support schools and local programs that make recreation and outdoor experiences more affordable and accessible for all families. 
  • Give Kids More Learning Time: Short school days and weeks create challenges for working parents and missed learning opportunities for kids. Colorado has the fewest mandated instructional days of any state. Michael will make it a priority to increase the time students spend learning — whether in the classroom, at home, on the job, through apprenticeships, or through community service. By streamlining bureaucracy, he will use additional state funds to help launch new partnerships between schools, employers, and communities that give students more learning and job opportunities. 
  • Connecting Every Kid with High-Quality, Affordable, Early Childhood Education: Michael will build on Colorado’s momentum to create a seamless, high-quality early childhood education system for every child from birth to age five. He will lead a statewide effort to close gaps in access to affordable, quality care. Michael has released his “Affordable Childcare for Working Families” plan, in which he has committed to quality home-based and friend, family, and neighbor care, growing the early childhood workforce, streamlining credentialing for qualified candidates and centers, and cutting red tape so it is easier to provide quality early childhood education without compromising quality or safety.

4. Encourage Debate and Discussion in the Classroom and on Campus. Our country was founded on the idea that in a free country, free people will disagree, and that the free exchange of ideas leads to better outcomes for the American people. The mission towards continuous improvement of our democracy lies at the heart of our schools and colleges. Colorado can lead in reinvigorating civil discourse by working with schools and colleges to expand classroom and campus discussion and debate, public service and community engagement, and reading and analyzing books. 
5. Launch a Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation: Michael will partner with private, philanthropic, and government leaders to raise private funds for a Colorado-based initiative that will: 

1. 1. Invest in the design and implementation of new and innovative education approaches led by parents, educators, labor, businesses, the public sector, and community leaders that align resources and improve outcomes.
   2. Grow proven approaches that are already delivering results across Colorado and the region.
   3. Prepare students and schools to lead the way in using emerging technologies for a better future.