School board races are nonpartisan and largely shaped by many local forces and issues, but one trend that stood out Tuesday night: Candidates backed by teachers’ unions performed well across Colorado.
Four years ago, typically sleepy school board elections rose to prominence after a turbulent pandemic year stoked anger in many parents about closed schools and mask mandates. This year, in some districts that have been rocked by controversy, teacher candidates with support from the unions, who focused on returning to “normalcy,” won, while in others, voters appeared to be turned off by outside money influencing local school board races.
Union-backed candidates won in many high-profile and small races: Denver, Aurora, Cherry Creek, Jefferson County, Poudre (Fort Collins), Brighton 27J, Cañon City, Mesa County Valley District 51, Adams 12, St. Vrain Valley, Pueblo 70, Summit County, and Steamboat Springs, among others.
“It was a very good, strong statement from communities that they want to see public schools stay public,” said Kevin Vick, president of the Colorado Education Association, referring to outside money that poured into some races. He also said voters are tired of the “extremist political upheaval” that’s been created in schools over the past few years.
“I think communities really sent a message that they're tired of these sorts of extremist positions being pushed into public schools,” he said. “When educators use their voice to engage in conversations with their community about what's important in public schools and how they want to partner with their community to improve…that message really resonated with people.”
However, conservative school boards in El Paso County, which have waded into controversial curriculum matters, gender in sports and book bans, largely maintained control with voter approval.
Denver
In Denver Public Schools, with four seats up for grabs, the political balance of the board has shifted back to board members endorsed by the teachers’ union. Two years ago, the union-backed slate lost three seats on the seven-member board.
This year, all candidates backed by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association won: Amy Klein Molk, Xóchitl Gaytán, Donald “DJ” Torres and Monica Hunter. Two of the three incumbents, Scott Esserman and Michelle Quattlebaum, who four years ago had the union endorsement but not this year, lost their seats.
Candidates tried to distinguish themselves over how to manage declining enrollment and school closures, among other issues. The winning candidates largely emphasized that while improvements are needed, the district is headed in the right direction. They promised to address lowering class sizes, boosting student achievement, and improving school safety.
The opposing slate of candidates backed by the group Denver Families for Public Education emphasized the need for a new direction: stronger performance goals for schools, a sharper focus on eliminating the achievement gap between white students and students of color, and holding Superintendent Alex Marrero more accountable for student performance and transparency.
“While the results tonight weren’t what we hoped for, I’m proud of the honest, hopeful campaign we ran — one focused on accountability, transparency, and putting students first,” said Timiya Jackson, who lost her bid to represent District 4.
Money poured into the DPS race, more than $1.6 million, dwarfing the small amounts candidates themselves raised. More than $1 million was spent backing the candidates who lost, much of it tied to out-of-state interests with ties to charter schools.
“Denver voters made it clear that they trust educators to make decisions about what is best for Denver Public Schools students, over billionaire-backed private interests,” said Rob Gould, special education teacher and president of the DCTA.
The CEA’s Vick said teachers’ unions were outspent by their opponents 8 to 1.
Douglas County
In Douglas County, voters repudiated the board’s conservative majority, ushering in four candidates from the Community’s Voice, Community’s Choice slate who promised a return to pragmatism, accountability and getting politics out of school board policies. They beat four members from a more conservative-learning slate called Common Sense DCSD.
For more than a decade, the suburban community has whiplashed between conservative candidates who’ve supported everything from private school vouchers and performance-based teacher pay to, more recently, attempts to do away with the district’s equity policy.
The conservative board’s tenure was marked by several contentious issues: firing Superintendent Corey Wise in 2022, which generated public backlash, a lawsuit and a multimillion-dollar settlement. There were allegations about the board making decisions in secret, resulting in lawsuits. The board voted in September to require parent permission for students to participate in a state youth health survey instead of opting out. The board did have moments of unity. In 2023, it helped pass a mill levy override for teacher raises.
The winners — Kyrzia Parker, Tony Ryan, Clark Callahan, and Kelly Denzler — say their priorities are ensuring equal opportunities for students, student safety, data-driven decisions, teacher retention and student-centered policies. The conservative slate ran on a platform of academic excellence, fiscal responsibility, strengthening family-school partnerships, and protecting girls’ sports.
Jefferson County
In Jefferson County, a district facing a $60 million budget deficit and declining enrollment, two union-backed candidates, Peter Gibbons and Tina Moeinian, won. Colorado’s second-largest district had three of five seats up for grabs. Mary Parker, the school board president, lost her seat to Moeinian, who had the backing of the Jefferson County Education Association.
The race focused on the budget deficit, school safety in the aftermath of the Evergreen School shooting and teacher pay. While the district has increased compensation by more than 30 percent over the past four years, teacher pay still lags behind many of the Denver metro districts because JeffCo voters haven’t passed a tax increase for local schools since 2018.
Newcomer Denine Echevarria, a classroom teacher and mother of three, won a seat and hopes to focus on strengthening supports for teachers and boosting budget transparency.
Mesa County
In Mesa County School District 51, voters ousted two of three sitting school board members who ran as a conservative block. Results show Angela Lema and Will Jones losing their re-election bids, knocked out by union-backed candidates Vicki Woods and Kaci Cole. As of Tuesday night, conservative board president Andrea Haitz was winning by fewer than 1,000 votes.
The trio was elected in 2021 after vowing to bring conservative values to the formerly nonpartisan District 51 school board. It became embroiled in political and ideological debates over the social studies curriculum and rejected a proposed health clinic at a high school. It reversed course on the clinic after widespread public backlash.
The district has lost 2,000 students over the past several years, which raised tensions. Ousted board members oversaw the closure of several traditional public schools. The conservative board majority refused to engage in teacher contract negotiations, though the contract was eventually ratified.
One victor, Vicki Woods, worked for 30 years in the district as a teacher and leader. After hundreds of hours knocking on doors, talking to voters, she said she heard loud and clear that “people are just weary of having politics be a part of everything” and were uncomfortable with the division and controversy on the board.
One reason Woods said she entered the race was because she disliked that one slate openly identified as Republican.
“This isn't for me, is not about who I am, politically, but I've always felt that public education is truly nonpartisan.”
Woods hopes the board can get away from what she calls distractions and return to talking about how to best academically prepare students for the future.
El Paso County
In Colorado Springs D-11, seven candidates were vying for three at-large seats. The board will maintain its conservative majority. Teachers had hoped for new board members open to restoring their collective bargaining agreement after the current board voted to end it last year, prompting a one-day strike in October. Two candidates backed by Republican Rep. Jeff Crank appeared to be winning, while one backed by the Colorado Springs Education Association was also leading.
All three union-backed candidates lost in conservative Academy D-20, while the candidates endorsed by Crank, incumbent Susan Payne, newcomer Eddie Waldrep, and Holly Tripp won seats. The board has taken on many divisive so-called culture war policy issues, including book bans in school libraries, materials related to gender and sexuality and adopted a resolution to base access to locker rooms, sports teams and restrooms on biological sex.
Teller County
In Woodland Park, which made national headlines for a conservative revamp of the social studies curriculum, candidates who promised a return to “accountability and transparency” won their seats.
That is a near-complete ouster of the conservative majority block that ushered in years of turbulence and an exodus of teachers.
