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Sherri Wright (i) Republican
Residence: Cortez
Profession: Education
Education: BA Sec Ed Master Sec Ed
Experience: Retired seventh-grade Language Arts teacher, former president and director of local school and community college boards; charter school director; currently serving the CO State Board of Ed.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
My top three priorities would be: protecting school choice and ensuring families have access to educational options that meet each student’s need; strengthening parental rights, transparency, and involvement in education; and ensuring academic excellence through rigorous standards, effective instruction, and a strong focus on the fundamental knowledge and skills students need for future success.
What role do you see charter and online schools playing as K-12 enrollment declines statewide?
I believe that every student deserves access to the education that best meets their individual needs, whether that is through homeschooling, a charter school, online or a traditional public school.
Whatap working and not working about the way Colorado measures school performance?
CO is making progress by providing school performance data earlier, allowing educators and families to use the results in a more timely and meaningful way. However, current assessments provide only a one-day snapshot of a student’s learning and do not adequately capture growth, achievement, or individual needs. CO should explore broader measures of student and school performance that provide a more complete and useful pictures of educational success.
Barb Clementi Democrat
Residence: Pueblo
Profession: Retired Public Shool Educator
Education: Master’s Degree
Experience: 30 years middle school teacher; 2 terms local school board; 6 years UCCS adjunct faculty; 30 years local, state, national education leader
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
My top three priorities are transparency about how public money is spent, closing funding loopholes, and equity of access. Colorado Families deserve clear information about school budgets, so they can see exactly how their tax dollars are spent. I’ll keep protecting public education dollars from being diverted to private and religious schools. And I’ll push hard for rural and underserved communities to get the support they need, because a great education shouldn’t depend on your ZIP code. Every kid in every corner of CD3 deserves a fair shot at an education that will help them succeed in school and in life.
What role do you see charter and online schools playing as K-12 enrollment declines statewide?
Every school that takes public dollars should have to prove it’s serving Colorado students well. How we approve, manage, and evaluate school performance is critical. Charter schools were originally meant to pilot innovative programs and funnel lessons back into our public system, but that promise has devolved into one that prioritizes revenue over taxpayers and students’ benefits. Online schools can work well for some students, but many of the largest programs graduate fewer than 30% of their kids. I’ll push for strong, clear policy and real accountability for every school that receives public dollars, whether that school is public, charter or online.
Whatap working and not working about the way Colorado measures school performance?
High stakes testing can give a snapshot of a school’s strengths and challenges, but in reality, testing measures a child’s zip code, home life, and economic status more than actual learning. It’s also become a multi-million-dollar industry, costing roughly $100 million a year for dubious results. Schools with low test scores get labeled as underperforming, driving families and teachers away. This can happen even when real progress is made, or when the school needs more investment, not budget cuts. We need broader metrics that capture what testing misses, real transparency, and a system prepared to meet students where they are.
