As we’ve noted here before, a lot is at stake in the upcoming Denver Public Schools board election this fall.

Years of education reforms ushered in by a succession of  pro-refom board majorities haven’t sat well with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, among others, in the state’s largest school district. Charter schools, innovation schools, assorted accountability measures and other policies have brought push-back from the union as well as assorted community groups. The critics are lining up their ducks, and candidates, with an eye toward toppling the prevailing pro-reform majority and perhaps reversing course.

And as we’ve also noted, the union in particular is doing its best to narrow the field so its preferred slate of candidates – buoyed by the union’s campaign contributions and its formidable network of teachers – has a fighting chance of taking power. Yet, as Chalbeat Colorado’s Eric Gorski made clear the other day, it may not be as simple as that.

It turns out a caucus of dissidents within the union’s ranks has its own ideas about who best could lead the district away from the current reform path:

In two races, the DCTA endorsements align with earlier statements of support for candidates from the Caucus of Today’s Teachers, formed last year by a group of progressive, social justice-minded teachers that would like to see the union be more aggressive.

But in the two races that feature multiple challengers to incumbents, the union and its caucus diverge. In the at-large race, DCTA endorsed Robert Speth, a northwest Denver parent who nearly upset board member Happy Haynes two years ago, over one of its own – Julie Bañuelos, a former teacher who recently served on the DCTA board.

The caucus is supporting Bañuelos, citing her teaching experience and advocacy for communities of color. Speth and Bañuelos are trying to unseat Barbara O’Brien, the board vice president and former lieutenant governor, who is running again.

And then it gets even more complicated:

Adding another wrinkle, a nonprofit group called Our Denver Our Schools that is opposed to the current direction of the school district is offering its own endorsements – and they don’t match up exactly to either the union endorsements or the caucus’s statements of support.

All of which just scratches the surface. Be sure to read Gorski’s full report for more detail about the competing slates seeking to oust the reformers; here’s the link again.