School board service is not for the faint of heart. Board members have the responsibility of ensuring constructive outcomes for students – a duty second to none in importance. In this pursuit, they owe no allegiance to superintendents and the teachers unions that have controlled education for decades. They must focus on the children.

We live in a BC and AC world – Before COVID and After its apex. AC civilization cares more about education than it did before COVID. AC parents have watched teachers unions close schools and force children into masks against parental will. They have seen backward, racially divisive instruction as their children learned on home computers.

Throughout the country, data consistently show public schools failing to properly teach the fundamentals of reading, writing, math, history and science. Insidious curriculum fads by names including “critical,” “equity” and “race” tell nonwhite children they are helplessly oppressed by whites. Meanwhile, test scores predictably decline among those told they have little hope in such an unfair country.

Because Black lives matter more than club-wielding activists know – because any mind is a terrible thing to waste – schools must change course.

A new majority on the Douglas County Board of Education promised voters it would improve outcomes and empower parents. The district was Colorado’s top performer a few years ago and has fallen to No. 49 under the direction of union-backed board majorities.

After board members perceived lackluster support for reform by Superintendent Corey Wise, the majority chose to end his contract last week and pursue an employee more aligned with their agenda.

Board Chairman Mike Peterson perceived a cozy relationship between Wise and union leadership that interfered with his goals. Peterson does not cave. He’s a highly decorated former Navy flight officer with multiple combat leadership roles. He has executive business experience. As an assistant professor at the Air Force Academy, he specialized in developing future leaders. He is an impassioned advocate of children with developmental disabilities.

Peterson, who devotes his life to this country and its disadvantaged children, could not stand by and watch schools deliver below-average and declining results. Voters elected him to lead, not to make friends.

The teachers unions’ nationwide conniption in response to the firing attests to a counterproductive alliance with Wise. Union members and leaders encouraged a student walkout to protest the firing. Don’t be fooled by the choreographed optics.

“I’m 10% here for the walkout and 90% here just to skip language arts and wellness class,” said seventh grader Elias Jordan, as quoted in The Denver Gazette.

Another student said most considered the walkout an invitation to skip school for no particular cause.

The blunt force of change won’t begin and end in Douglas County, nor should it. Every board of every school district should take a hard look at the performances of their schools and hold superintendents accountable, replacing those who fail to deliver.

Wednesday night, the board of Colorado Springs District 11 announced the upcoming midyear review of Superintendent Michael Thomas. This is an appropriate opportunity to remind board members, taxpayers, and parents that Thomas has overseen falling graduation rates and tanking proficiency scores – disproportionately low among minorities – after voters approved a massive D-11 tax increase. D-11 ranks a disgraceful 159th in performance among the state’s 183 districts.

Change is hard, and we hope only the best for Wise and others affected by AC America’s demand for it. Yet, we must never lose sight of who our schools are for. They are for children from every ethnic and socioeconomic background. We need equitably excellent outcomes, not defeatist lectures on victims and oppressors and a continuation of failure.

Parents and other taxpayers are finally taking control through their elected representatives. To get results, they might need to disrupt – rather than protect – establishment systems and personnel who fail our children.

Denver Gazette editorial board