Editor:

Michelle Patterson had her say about the Jefferson County Board of Education in the July 24 issue of The Colorado Statesman. Now it is time for truth.She spent almost the entirety of her article alleging, in painful detail, what she claims was inappropriate treatment by the board of a single student. She then created a contorted connection between that and her rationale for recalling three members of that board. Not once in her harangue, not once, did she make any reference to the pitiful academic performance of the school district that she, as a previous board member, delivered to them. Nor did she credit the current board for its commitment to improving student achievement, a subject conveniently ignored by Ms. Patterson in her letter and during her time on the Board of Education. Converting the Jeffco mindset from defending and protecting the unsatisfactory level of student learning to one which is committed to motivating, incentivizing, and delivering improved reading, writing, computing, and citizenship skills is a major challenge, and one which Ms. Patterson and her union friends should applaud, not attack.

Ken Witt, John Newkirk, and Julie Williams have moved Jeffco in a positive direction, doing so in the face of tremendous opposition from the establishment, particularly the Jefferson County Teachers Association. It is important to point out that the union represents a much smaller percentage of teachers in Jefferson County than the 60 percent of voters in Jeffco who elected them and their agenda. Despite fierce opposition from entrenched self-interests, the BOE has expanded choice, encouraged new start-up charter schools and implemented equitable funding for every child. They have drained control and power from central administrative bureaucrats, driving decision-making down to individual buildings, empowering parents, teachers, and principals, breaking the one-size-fits-all system that has failed so many Jeffco students for decades.

In addition, the board has installed pay-for-performance, so that the most productive and highest-performing teachers are appropriately recognized and rewarded, finally drawing a distinction between teachers who are highly effective in their classrooms from those who are not.

As responsible financial stewards, the board rejected debt in favor of building a new school with funds saved by cutting administrative overhead. Facing the difficult task of building a new culture inside the administration has been daunting, particularly because of the intense pushback by the status-quo apologists, like Patterson and the union, protecting business as usual and rejecting cost-effective practices and principles advanced by the new board.

It is no surprise that Ms. Patterson, as a former member of the Jeffco Board of Education, is now part of the union-led campaign to “take back our schools.” Clearly, the key word in the union campaign slogan is BACK. Back is the direction they want to go, back to the dismal academic performance of Jeffco students in the past, back to the same fate that too many have already suffered.

If Ms. Patterson and her minions were truly interested in Jeffco students improving their skill levels in reading, writing and computing, they might focus their time, effort and precious dollars on student learning, not on the interests of union-represented adults. My home district, Colorado Springs D11, went through a similar experience 10 years ago when another union-initiated campaign successfully recalled members of a reform board. The result? Proficiency, or more accurately non-proficiency, has not improved, and in some cases actually declined. Anti-reformers and the teachers unions are far more effective at winning elections than they are at leading school districts to higher levels of student achievement.

Witt, Newkirk, and Williams should be thanked, congratulated and supported for their total commitment to accomplishing more with less, doing so with principled and result-driven leadership. How fortunate Jefferson County is to have such visionary and courageous leaders who are uncompromising in their pursuit of excellence for all students!

Steve SchuckColorado Springs