Cal Frazier served four governors in his 15 years as Colorado’s Commissioner of Education and carried his passion for better schools to any available venue – including basketball courts.
Frazier, who died of cancer in his Lakewood home Monday at age 75, had a successful career as a teacher and administrator before being appointed commissioner in 1973 by Republican Gov. John Love. He also served under Republican John Vanderhoof and Democrats Dick Lamm and Roy Romer before retiring from the job.
But “retirement” was a misnomer for Frazier’s later years. Many people retire so they can pursue their avocations. Education was Frazier’s avocation, and he stayed busy in the field, sometimes as a consultant and often as a citizen volunteer.
Frazier was fond of saying, “Anything can be accomplished when no one needs credit,” and he loved to plant his ideas with others. Toward that end, he liked to join the informal after-hours basketball games played among state Capitol regulars, including legislators and journalists. The relaxed chatter in the locker rooms after such contests proved fertile ground for Frazier to plant his seeds for educational reform.
While Frazier helped midwife many improvements in Colorado schools, his most important contribution was to help equalize resources between poor and rich school districts. Unabashedly he rewrote state aid formulas to give disproportionate assistance to poorer districts. As a result, thousands of children climbed the ladder of opportunity.
No one could leave a finer legacy.
