Three rightwing school board members who created a firestorm of controversy in a large Denver-area suburban school district last year, and prompted weeks of student walkouts and protests, by trying to forcibly inject conservative ideology into the high school curriculum are out of office. All three lost recall elections on Tuesday.
Colorado students protest wingnutization Once they had a 3-2 majority on the of their education Jefferson County school board, the conservatives moved quickly to impose their political agenda on the county’s schools, including curriculum changes and attacks on teacher pay and collective bargaining. They steamrollered opposition, sidelining the other two board members and ignoring community complaints about their policies and tactics.
Recall organizers got over double the required signatures to force a recall vote, and had no difficulty winning the recall election despite heavy spending by conservative interests. The two other board members quit, so the reconstituted school board will have all new members, this time carefully vetted by the community.
In addition, three conservative incumbents in a neighboring school district all lost their re-election bids.
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