Tim Krug, who went from outraged over the treatment of a Douglas County high school student to working to elect a new school board, announced he is running for the State Board of Education from the 4th Congressional District.

The seat is currently held by Debora Scheffel, who was appointed last week to fill the vacancy left when Pam Mazanec resigned last month. Scheffel, a Republican, formerly served on the state board when she lived in the 6th Congressional District. She lost re-election to that seat in 2016. Last year, she ran for the Douglas County Board of Education, as part of a slate of three conservative education reformers, but lost that race as well. Scheffel is expected to run for election to the 4th CD seat in November but has not announced an intention to do so.

Krug, 42, a Democrat from Franktown, is a native of Champaign, IL and attended Indiana University. He left before graduating to start up a silk screening business, which he later sold for a handsome profit. From there he headed to Japan, to help a friend who was short an English language teacher. It was supposed to be six months but turned into 13 years and Krug went from teaching English to running the school.

Krug met his wife in Japan. They have two children, and five years ago, when his son was diagnosed with autism, they decided it was time to head back to the states “where the educational climate is better.”

Once they settled in Douglas County, Krug said he started volunteering at his son’s school, and started seeing the problems in the education system. Those problems, he said, include over-testing kids, blaming teachers for things outside of their control, teacher shortages and funding issues.

“Politics are invading the way we approach education,” he said. “We need to take a step back, and allow parents and educators a larger say in system, rather than politicians who are being bought by large organizations who hope to profit off kids.”

Krug acknowledged that being a Democrat in the solidly-Republican 4th CD will be a challenge but said that politicians “on both sides are making bad decisions for our students and schools. In Douglas County, the GOP has repeatedly failed to listen to community and backed candidates with the national agenda instead of what’s right for kids.”

He noted that six years ago, Democrats didn’t even put up a candidate for the 4th CD seat. But his involvement in the most recent school board election has raised his profile, including among Republicans in the county. “It’s important to have a different voice” in the mix, he said.

Krug went from outrage to involved in 2016 when a Ponderosa High School student, Grace Davis, was called into a meeting with two members of the Douglas County Board of Education. Davis’ parents had not been consulted about that meeting, which was to try and talk her out of launching a student protest over teacher turnover at her school. The meeting turned into months of public protest at school board meetings over the direction of the school board. A year later, candidates opposed to the school board’s direction, including a controversial voucher program, took over the majority.

The Davis situation “really truly scared me. If we allow officials to take children into rooms without parents’ knowledge, outside of scope of education, it scared me for what could happen down the road.”

Krug attended every school board meeting after that, advocating for a policy that required volunteers, including school board members, to obtain parental consent for meetings with students, a policy that eventually passed with little fanfare. He said he was at first naive about what was going on in the school district, but said what he learned was that some of the board members were “more interested in protecting a national corporate agenda” rather than making students and teachers their top priority.

He wants to be on the state board of education because of his experience in running a school and his understanding of the private educational industry. “Public money should stay in public schools,” he told Colorado Politics. He said he is willing to listen , and will bring to the board the perspective of a parent with children in the public school system, which he said is lacking.

“I believe in safe schools, valuing our teachers, and making sure all students are able to pursue ambitious goals,” Krug said.