Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter testified Tuesday before a congressional committee about proposals that the states adopt a "common core" of college and career-readiness education standards.

Ritter appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor in his capacity as chairman of the National Governors Association's Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee. U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, is a committee member.

"Our economy is now truly global, and the competitiveness of our education system must reflect this," Ritter said in remarks prepared for delivery at the hearing. "To maintain America's competitive edge, all of our students need to be well-prepared and ready to compete not only with their American peers, but also with students from around the world."

Nearly all states and the national PTA have backed an effort to improve the nation's competitiveness by adopting a common core of college and career readiness standards in schools. The governors association is a key backer of the common-core effort, which supporters say will better align education with college and work expectations.

Here is the full text of Ritter's prepared remarks to the committee as issued by his office:

Chairman Miller, Ranking Member Kline, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the Common Core State Standards Initiative. On behalf of the National Governors Association and as chair of the Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee, I am honored to be with you today.

Our economy is now truly global, and the competitiveness of our education system must reflect this. To maintain America's competitive edge, all of our students need to be well-prepared and ready to compete not only with their American peers, but also with students from around the world.

The state-led development of common core state standards is a critical first step to bring about real and meaningful transformation of state education systems to benefit all students. I appreciate, first-hand, how important this effort is to the competitiveness of state workforces and, similarly, how important it is to ensure that it remains in the hands of states.

In 2008, I pushed for the development of state-level policy that would align K-12 and higher education standards with the goal of ensuring that all students are ready for entry into postsecondary education or the workforce upon exit from high school. We called this effort the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, or CAP4K, and it represented the first time Colorado's education systems worked together in earnest on common student-oriented policies. It was truly game-changing education policy in my state.

For the first time, we shifted our collective attention from annual assessments and simple punitive accountability policies to a focus on relevancy, student growth, and an expectation that all students, regardless of their station in life, should be prepared for college and career by the time of exit from high school.

But, from my first-hand experience, I caution that this work takes time to implement well. After nearly two years of concentrated effort and deliberate outreach, we are just now at the point of state-level adoption. Next, we will turn to developing a new system of assessments, and then to supporting local district adoption and classroom implementation.

We have been moving at near light speed to develop, adopt, and implement new standards and assessments, but these tools will not be ready for use until 2012. Though there are 48 states and territories involved in the effort to develop common standards, it is important to respect that each is in a different place regarding its readiness to adopt and implement the common core standards.

I am confident that this process has a great chance for success, but adoption of new standards is simply the first step toward meaningful education reform. So, I return to this critical point: the common core standards initiative is and must remain a state-led effort.

Adoption of the common core is voluntary for states. The decision to adopt will be made in every state by state and local leaders working with teachers, parents, businesses, and citizens. To develop the standards, NGA and CCSSO have been using the best available evidence, both nationally and internationally. This first round of state adoption should be considered version 1.0. Future and ongoing revisions are inevitable and necessary. Moreover, future research will inform improvements and expand the body of evidence.

States are already planning for the sustainability of this work and the possible development of standards in additional subjects. Congress can support participating states by setting high expectations for results and allow governors to lead -- give us the clear authority to experiment, innovate, and define how to get the work done.

Governors need your leadership and assistance; the federal government has a critical supporting role to unleash the power of state-led action. The common core standards initiative is just the tip of the iceberg on the power of state-led action.

Within the next few months, we expect to begin working on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, more commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act. Ideally, this effort would replicate the state-federal partnership I just described. Work must remain on assessments, accountability, human capital, R&D - and so much more.

Governors are committed and eager to work with the committee on the reauthorization. Again, Chairman Miller and members of the committee, on behalf of governors across the nation, I appreciate the opportunity to address you today. I would be happy to take any questions you may have.

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