Denver school board candidate Kristi Butkovich on multiple occasions used the words and work of others in filling out a Chalkbeat Colorado election questionnaire without crediting the sources.
Portions of the southeast Denver education activist’s answers were nearly identical matches to passages from a blog post from education historian and writer Diane Ravitch, a prepared statement from a national union leader and an opinion piece by another DPS board candidate.
In an interview, Butkovich said she didn’t see a problem with “using someone else’s wording to get a point across” and doesn’t consider it plagiarism. Later, she sent a statement taking “full responsibility for not attributing the professionals for the work I respect and commend.”
“It is my writing style to quote the experts,” Butkovich wrote. “I know I cited several sources. In my haste to send in the questionnaire (it was already one day late), I should have asked someone to proof it before I hit submit. It was never my intention not to credit the appropriate author.”
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