It appears Douglas County’s school leadership is following through on the regime change its newly elected members promised voters last November. Their firing of an entrenched superintendent and other moves have stirred a lot of media interest. Bold change tends to draw opposition, which makes headlines. It’s also arguably newsworthy whenever elected officials bother to keep their word about anything. You can follow the details in The Gazette.

Meanwhile, just up the highway at the state’s largest school district, Denver’s, the latest developments are far more troubling – and, for the most part, have flown under the radar. A board that since last November’s election has been unanimously doing the bidding of the teachers union is bent on rolling back reforms that threaten union power. That should ensure the stagnation of Denver’s most at-risk students and their already-abysmal achievement levels.

It’s the worst transgression of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education – but certainly not the only one.

Board member Tay Anderson, best known as the board’s resident social-media predator and online lecher, was elevated to vice president only months after being censured last fall by fellow board members. Their action came after an independent investigation confirmed allegations of sexual harassment by Anderson of students and others. In one case, it involved a 16-year-old Denver high schooler. In another case, it was a 17-year-old attending Douglas County Schools. Anderson faced harassment allegations from even longer ago, dating to his work a few years back with an activist group whose members he treated similarly. Anderson himself more or less corroborated the incidents for investigators.

Significant portions of the report released last year in that investigation were redacted and withheld from the public and press – at Anderson’s request. Those redacted findings concerned his time with the activist group as well as when he briefly was a district employee. It was left to a judge to decide whether the redacted portions should be disclosed to those requesting it under the Colorado Open Records Act.

This week, a judge ruled the act did not compel the disclosure of investigators’ findings that had been kept from the public. We learned about the decision from Gazette columnist Jimmy Sengenberger, who wrote about the development for our news affiliate Colorado Politics.

As Sengenberger explains, the court found that the state records law exempts from disclosure any record of sexual harassment complaints and investigations. But that doesn’t preclude Anderson from disclosing the investigators’ findings on his own.

We won’t hold our breath for Anderson to do the right thing. After all, this is the Tay Anderson who boasted on social media of becoming a dad out of wedlock but couldn’t seem to find a job – even in a labor shortage – to help support the child. Nor did he care to pursue higher education – telegraphing to DPS students that they needn’t bother, either. The life of professional “activist” beckoned him, and with union backing, he won a seat on the board.

Anderson is of course just a symptom. What should trouble every DPS parent is the deafening silence and cowardly indifference of the other board members. Why aren’t they asking Anderson what he has to hide? Why aren’t they demanding he release the redacted findings of the investigators? Is the content so objectionable even Anderson would be embarrassed?

Denver public school parents, pay heed. These are the “leaders” you have elected. Are these the kinds of public figures you want your children to look up to?

Denver Gazette editorial board