A prominent strategist told me to get a CT scan of my head when I mentioned my plan to work in the communications department at Jeffco Schools. Six months later I admit that I had my share of headaches, but it was worth taking a few Advil for the battle to improve student achievement. Our team was privileged to highlight the efforts of dedicated educators working long hours to create vibrant classrooms for thousands of students.

Those were the good stories. Now that the polling has started and it appears that a recall campaign is underway, it is important that Jeffco residents understand what is really going on in their district – a billion-dollar professional services corporation is going through a necessary turnaround while under attack by a guerrilla group vested in the old culture. The agitators, the Jefferson County Educators Association, have diverted attention away from this important work with clever tactical posturing using talking points that gain media attention and fuel public outrage. It’s no coincidence that every negative Jeffco story has a central theme which is unjustified but provocative – namely, bullying and discrimination.

The Board majority in Jeffco (Ken Witt, John Newkirk and Julie Williams) were elected on a promise to exercise fiscal restraint and improve student achievement numbers. While these are clearly vital issues for the community, they are not sexy. Savvy operatives for the union devised two themes guaranteed to get a news crew driving down U.S. Highway 6 from Denver to Golden and work up independent and unaffiliated moms. This manipulation of outrage and concern by paid operatives is the real scandal in Jeffco.

A letter from the so-called “Wheat Ridge Concerned Citizens” protesting action by Board member Newkirk, who sought greater community input, was authored by Lynea Hansen of Strategies 360, the national communications firm representing the JCEA as well as the Douglas County teachers union. Parents of Fletcher Miller School students with medically fragile children were convinced their children were in danger, which was not true. Accusations that dual-language programs are being reduced at an elementary school in Edgewater have been made despite the district showing evidence that this is also unsubstantiated.

Veterans of Jeffco understand that he who holds the school district mic (the communications department) wins the election. In the past, the school district shop was firmly under the control of former Superintendent Cindy Stevenson and the pro-union Board members. Stevenson controlled every story that came out of the district. She was clear about her preference for a bond to pass in Jeffco, and it looks like her staff encouraged employees and community members to vote for the bond in articles and emails. Media specialist Melissa Reeves, who resigned in February, immediately went to work at the Colorado Education Initiative under Board member Lesley Dahlkemper. Melissa attended the Board of Education meeting the same night she quit and sat with members of the JCEA communications team at the meeting, waving her hands in support of the union speakers.

The biggest battle for the megaphone from now on will be over who is blamed for the impending strike. The strike is a union-generated threat and movement created to beat the district and school board into submission during the contract negotiations. The strike flier issued and distributed to its members by the JCEA is a strong indicator that they aren’t negotiating in good faith. Coloradans should be very alarmed by the dismal realities of a strike – 80,000 working families who will have to stay home or find costly childcare, if it is even available. The effect on the school district’s solvency will be devastating. The cost to provide security to safeguard 155 school sites a day is astronomical. The instructional days lost will have to be made up at the end of the year or during holidays, which will cost several million dollars. Teachers who strike are taking a huge risk with their professional careers and the relationships and good-will they have worked hard to build with Jeffco families. Students’ learning will be interrupted, and anxiety will be high in classrooms.

JCEA President John Ford’s Chalkbeat and 9News interviews were blatant violations of the negotiations team agreement to only communicate jointly or collaboratively to the media during the negotiations. The school district has remained silent outside of the table and is playing by the rules. This asymmetry has led to a climate where parents do not understand who is driving the derailment of talks and compromise.

On a more personal note, I got to see how unions have a successful track record of getting rid of people they don’t like. Their vitriolic attacks got to me. People tell me that similar tactics were used against women on Scott Walker’s team. Pro-union Twitter feeds and websites launched a merciless blitz on my character, professional skills and personal life. Tweets included discussion about my “shriveled ovaries” (which perhaps referenced the fact that I am a working mom who had my third child at 39), my fictional hankering for burritos and guacamole during board meetings, and some I found offensive – allegations that I was having multiple affairs, am corrupt and unethical. Superintendent Dan McMinimee has suffered unjustified similar attacks since he was hired in July 2014. That’s why I am no longer working for Jeffco Schools.

My experience aside, the JCEA’s communications tactics are successfully derailing the school district’s critical mission to provide Jeffco students the fundamental skills they need to have successful and prosperous lives. Don’t let them use the microphone to do that.

Lisa Pinto is a former prosecutor, cable news commentator and was the Communications officer for the Jeffco School district.