Colorado governors unite to denounce proposed student testing reductions

Photo: Hickenlooper, Owens, Romer
Gov. John Hickenlooper, left, and two of his predecessors, Republican Bill Owens, center, and Democrat Roy Romer defend Colorado school testing standards on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.

Gov. John Hickenlooper and two of his predecessors, Democrat Roy Romer and Republican Bill Owens, spoke out Wednesday against bills that would reduce the number of standardized tests for students.

All three men say there may be too much testing currently, but say legislative efforts go too far.

"Our friends from both the left and the right, for differing reasons, don’t want to test, don’t want to have accountability. This is stunning to me," said Owens.

But Kerrie Dallman, head of Colorado’s largest teacher’s union, says the governors are out of touch.

"Parents across Colorado, educators and teachers, are demanding a big change to the way we’re testing kids," said Dallman.

Hickenlooper supports the testing reductions recommended by a task force earlier this year. But both the House and Senate are moving forward with separate bills that would make more drastic changes.