Voters across Colorado weighed in on school board contests in this week’s elections, and the results are mixed. Erica Meltzer, bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado, said that makes sense given the mixed political makeup of the state and its school districts. She joined KUNC’s Nikole Robinson Carroll to interpret the latest school board election outcomes.
Meltzer told KUNC voters sent a strong message to Denver Public Schools after electing three new members to the board.
“That election turned more on issues of safety and, and some reaction against board infighting,” she said. “But all the money in the race was still from education reform and teachers unions.”
For comparison, in other parts of the state conservative school boards reinforced their majorities.
“Pueblo (School Disctrict) 60 seems like it might have a conservative board,” Meltzer said. “But in some of the more purple or blue, mixed school districts - especially the Denver suburbs, going north into Loveland and Fort Collins - it seems like candidates backed by the teachers union did well and are likely to maintain or even grow their majorities.”
Meltzer told KUNC the underlying political dynamics of a school district’s community often show up in the school board race.
“We are seeing more identification along partisan lines in terms of how people vote in school board elections,” she said. “Democrats or left-leaning independents are more likely to support candidates backed by the teachers union. Republicans and conservatives are more likely to support conservative school board candidates.”
Some of the fault lines in the school board elections included voters’ perspectives on issues like parental rights and inclusivity.