Five candidates are seeking a position on the State Board of Education, which regulates teacher licensure programs, accredits the state’s 178 school districts and approves the budget for the Colorado Department of Education among other duties.
In the second congressional district, incumbent Evie Hudak, a Democrat, who has advocated for special needs students and early childhood development, is running unopposed.
In the 4th Congressional District, incumbent Bob Schaffer, a Republican, is facing a challenge from Democrat Tom Griggs, a professor at the University of Northern Colorado’s School of Teacher Education.
And in the 7th Congressional District, incumbent Karen Middleton, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican Lee Kunz, the owner of a construction company.
Middleton, who teaches government classes at the Community College of Aurora and runs a consulting firm that works with non-profit agencies, said her priorities include supporting high school reforms in districts; providing more resources to children and parents, such as literacy coaches in classrooms; and improving the way information on school report cards is communicated to parents.
Middleton also wants to bring public and private entities together to support early childhood education.
Kunz, a former high school football coach, said he would like the state to have clearer statewide standards for education, which he says are vague.
He said if elected to the state board, he would advocate for school principals to have more authority over their school budgets. “Many times the principal doesn’t have any say whatsoever in the budget of the school,” he said.
Kunz said he believes school districts are spending too great a share of dollars on secondary education, and should shift more dollars to early childhood education.
In the 7th district, Griggs said he doesn’t support current legislation that allows for poor performing schools to be converted to charter schools. Low performing schools are often higher in poverty and should get more resources, he said.
Griggs, who teaches education and English as a Second Language classes at UNC to aspiring teachers, said he can represent teachers on the state board.
“I understand what classrooms are like,” he said. “Kids come to school with different needs and we need to address those needs before we start working on them.”
School boards also shouldn’t be penalized for deciding not to open a charter school if they feel it will hurt the district financially, said Griggs. Under current legislation, districts that refuse charter school applicants based on financial reasons could lose their exclusive right to open charters.
Incumbent Schaffer, who describes himself as an advocate for rural schools, said that although he voted against the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) test when he was a state legislator because he felt there were many unanswered questions about it, he believes it has been effective in exposing problems in schools.
He said he is also a strong advocate for students with disabilities, and, as a Congressman, advocated for more funding for schools to serve special needs students.
Schaffer, who has sponsored charter school legislation, said he is also a supporter of school choice outside of traditional public schools. “You can’t get more or better accountability than parental choice,” he said.
Staff writer Karen Rouse can be reached at 303-954-1684 or at krouse@denverpost.com.
