SB24-051: Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Programs

Date: February 21, 2024
Speaker: Marc Catlin
Second Reading Remarks
Location: Colorado State Capitol, Denver, Colorado
Related Legislation: SB24-051 Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Programs

Introduction

During House Second Reading debate on SB24-051, Marc Catlin spoke in support of expanding pathways for adults to earn a high school diploma while pursuing workforce and career training opportunities. Drawing on his father's experience earning a GED later in life, Catlin emphasized the importance of removing barriers to education and creating opportunities for Coloradans seeking to improve their futures.

Video

Speech

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Members, this is an important bill to me for a couple of personal reasons.

I've been involved in these adult education bills since I got here because the guy who raised me was a man who did not have a diploma. That was something that burdened him throughout his life.

He and my mom worked together to help him earn his GED after they were married and moved to our home country. But it was something that bothered him. I could tell because he went on to become a school board member. He became chairman of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. He was successful in many different things, but I know inside that was one of the things that bothered him.

Education was important to him. That's the reason I'm here—the only member of my family to graduate from college.

Part of my role is to see if I can help people find a way to get a high school diploma in this day and age, because there are so many places where the first hurdle is simply having a diploma.

If you want to join the military, you need a diploma. If you want to get a promotion, you need a diploma.

This bill is going to open another pathway through community colleges. Students can work toward a diploma while also participating in career enhancement programs.

You may not be an employed plumber when you begin the program, but you can be taking courses that help you become a plumber by the time you finish and earn your diploma.

The inference about people who do not have a diploma is often that they are lazy or that they quit. Members, that is usually the furthest thing from the truth.

We have young people who leave high school in order to help support their families. We have people who leave school to care for their parents. We have a number of different circumstances that prevent people from completing high school through traditional means.

This bill provides an opportunity for state government to make a difference in some of those lives.

I know it made a difference in my dad's life, and I know it has made a difference in the lives of friends of mine who later earned their diplomas.

That's why I am a prime sponsor of this bill, along with Representative Kipp. I think she feels the same way.

When we look at the scope of the State of Colorado, this may seem like a small thing. But it could be a very large thing in the lives of people we may never meet.

You've heard me say this before, but I mean it today:

This is a good bill. Vote yes.