Colorado School District Immersed In Political Turmoil Amid Recall
"I think we are a harbinger of education reform, what can persist and succeed and what cannot."
Protesting students Adriana Gonzales, right, and Andrea Colmenero march against a Jefferson County School Board proposal to emphasize patriotism and downplay civil unrest in the teaching of U.S. history on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
DENVER (AP) -- Angry parents and educators in a Colorado battleground county are trying to recall three conservative school board members Tuesday, citing several complaints, including a change in how teachers get pay raises and talk of reviewing the history curriculum to promote patriotism.
The idea prompted students to walk out of class and protest in the streets last year. Teachers staged sick-outs, the Jefferson County district claimed.
The board members facing recalls cruised to victory in 2013, but their arrival quickly caused a stir. The superintendent of the school district, Cindy Stevenson, left days after their election, saying she felt disrespected by them and couldn't do her job anymore.
Then came a decision to tie teacher pay increases to performance rather than seniority, and accusations that the three conservatives on the five-member board were meeting privately before scheduled meetings. Ken Witt, Julie Williams and John Newkirk have repeatedly denied holding secret meetings.
While school-board spats typically are confined locally, these recall efforts have attracted spending from special-interest groups in a battle over what education reform should look like. It's no surprise the setting for that question is Jefferson County, a politically diverse swing district where rural, mountain, and urban communities mingle.
"I think we are a harbinger of education reform, what can persist and succeed and what cannot," said Witt, the board's president.
Jefferson County, which has Colorado's second largest school district, drew national attention when the conservative-led majority considered reviewing a new Advanced Placement U.S. history curriculum to emphasize patriotism.
Ultimately, the board didn't do anything with the AP history class, an elective course that has been criticized by the Republican National Committee and the Texas State Board of Education. The course gives greater attention to the history of North America and its native people before colonization and their clashes with Europeans.
But the board members insist it's their duty to periodically look at curriculum, and that the Colorado School District Immersed In Political Turmoil Amid Recall: