A former Colorado Department of Education employee is suing the department, claiming that she was fired last year for speaking out against proposed policy changes in how English Language Learners are identified for reading help.
Dian Prestwich, who helped roll out the state’s early literacy law, claims she was fired in 2015 after she spoke with State Board of Education member Deb Scheffel about the departmentap request to allow schools to test English language learning students in their native language, primarily Spanish.
Prestwich’s lawsuit claims she reached out to Scheffel as a Colorado resident and not a department employee. Her firing, the lawsuit claims, violated her First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit establishes a two-year timeline of conflict between Prestwich and other department officials. It also provides a new window into the behind-the-scenes debate over how the state’s rules for the READ Act evolved since the law was first passed in 2012.
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