The teachers’ uprising that swept through red and purple states this spring isn’t over, even if teachers are no longer crowding state capitol buildings. Education issues continue to be fought out in state and local elections, and that isn’t always just a Republican vs. Democrat issue. That was true in Kentucky, where a Republican state House member lost his primary to a Republican teacher. And it’s playing out in the Democratic primary for governor in Colorado, where two of the candidates have been open to school privatization and a third is getting teachers union support:
[Former state treasurer and Denver Chief Financial Officer Cary] Kennedy remains an underdog in limited public polling, but won a majority of the vote at the state party’s assembly in April. Strategists say the spending from the teachers unions and EMILY’s List is keeping her within striking distance of [Rep. Jared] Polis, who has used his fortune to spend more than $11 million on his campaign. The winner will likely face state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a Bush family cousin who is the front-runner in the GOP primary, in November to determine who will succeed Hickenlooper.
Polis is a charter school founder who in the past expressed openness to vouchers, though he now says he is firmly anti-voucher. State Sen. Mike Johnston, also in the gubernatorial primary, is fully on board with corporate education policy. In recent years, too many Democratic politicians have taken these positions, but between the Betsy DeVos Education Department and the teacher uprisings, the tide has shifted against privatization and testing-driven education, presenting a challenge for politicians like Polis.
Colorado schools are badly underfunded, spending thousands less per pupil than the national average and with teacher pay ranking 31st among the states, even though the state’s median income is high. When Colorado teachers walked out to protest in April, Kennedy was the only gubernatorial candidate to show up to support them.