State Rep. Michael Merrifield’s resignation as leader of the House Education Committee, after his fire-breathing e-mail knocking charter schools, will have only a minor effect on one of the most partisan panels.
The Colorado Springs Democrat gave up his post – but only for the remainder of the legislative session that ends in May – after the private e-mail was posted on a right-leaning political blog.
Merrifield, who is battling throat cancer, said Friday he did not want his remarks or his health to “sidetrack the important work” of the committee.
Republicans accused him of using the chairmanship for partisan politics and said the committee, which often votes along an 8-5 party line, is now “tainted.”
Merrifield still will sit on the panel.
In a December e-mail to Senate Education Committee chairwoman Sue Windels, Merrifield said that “there must be a special place in hell” for backers of school vouchers, privatizing and charter schools.
Merrifield apologized Friday for the “strong language and disrespectful tone” of the e-mail, obtained in an open records request by www.facethestate.com.
“I regret if they have caused misunderstanding, hurt or offense,” he said. “I never meant to disparage the parents who are advocating for their children’s best interest.”
Rep. Cory Gardner, one of five Republicans on the education committee, said Merrifield’s e-mail “really showed a lot.”
“He’s saying 7 percent of our public schools students deserve a special place in hell,” he said, referring to the percentage of Colorado kids in charter schools.
The exchange between Merrifield and Windels, D-Arvada, was on her charter school bill and whether Democrats may try to repeal the Charter School Institute.
Merrifield wrote that Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, one of a handful of Democratic advocates for charter schools, “would freak, but who cares.”
Carroll said the e-mail made it clear Merrifield “thinks we have a lower class of morality than he does.”
Windels defended her colleague, saying Merrifield wrote the e-mail at the height of a tumultuous battle in Colorado Springs over the school board’s attempt to give a school full of at-risk, high-performing kids to the charter institute.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
