“The people of Colorado have spoken!” said the ballot box to the Governor. “What language did they speak in?” asked the Governor. “They spoke in standard Coloradan,” replied the ballot box. “They do not want you to mess with TABOR, even if that means paying more in property taxes!”

And with that message from the people via the ballot box, Proposition HH bit the dust. Gov. Jared Polis now knows any initiative that takes 12 pages to explain in the voter’s guide blue book – with multiple charts, and even a QR code to a calculator to help with the math to figure out whether you’ll be up or down – does not go down well with Coloradans. So, now what?

As Republicans correctly predicted, the governor led his majority Democrats in the state House last spring over the cliff in the last week of the General Assembly’s session. He got them to bite on Proposition HH even though the authorizing legislation was around 120 pages and no one but insiders had any notion of what it said or meant. Not just GOPers howled “foul.” So did every municipal, county and special-district government that would lose money in the deal to squeeze out some more funds for schools while ostensibly reducing property owners’ looming huge property tax bills in 2024.

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It’s now unclear whether voters rejected Proposition HH because it was too complicated, didn’t cut property taxes enough, didn’t give schools enough, would give schools too much, or exactly what. What is clear in our perfect Coloradan message-speak is the governor now has a big, juicy mess on his hands that needs a clean response, not an initiative or legislation too fancy by half.

What else did Coloradans have to say? The tea leaf reader suggests the following interpretation:

Denver residents bought into Mayor Johnston’s $1.5 million message that Denver Public School board members Scott Baldermann and Charmaine Lindsay were the source of the board’s loud, contentious problems when the source is actually now running to be a member of the Colorado House of Representatives. In any case, the Denver school board now has three new members backed by pro-charter, pro-privatization billionaires who envision Denver public schools as their role model for the nation, since the New Orleans charter school role model isn’t looking so good.

As with Gov. Polis, the current members of the board will have to listen closely to their voters to determine next steps. Their school safety solutions haven’t given enough comfort to parents that their children will be secure in schools. On the other side of that coin are the children of color who are significantly more often than white children the object of disciplinary actions. Then there will be neighborhood school closings. And there will be the district’s governance policies that affect how the superintendent does his work. The problem plate is full and the new board members will get their chance to pitch their solutions to the people.

Following the school board elections outside of Denver has been just as exciting. Coloradans went straight to the middle, as they have done over the many decades.

In Douglas County, where Republicans dominate, the school board candidates that aligned with current members who dumped the former Superintendent Cory Wise and paid him $830,000 as an unhappy going-away present lost. The current board minority incumbents who did not want to fire Cory Wise won. That victory leaves the board knowing voters don’t like the majority’s take on education policy, but the majority board is still in place. The new board likely will continue on its path to remove equity and diversity training for district employees. They will continue to ensure a majority of students are not made uncomfortable by certain facts in American history that make a minority of students uncomfortable. It will take one more election to give new board members control over the current board’s decision-making.

Even more exciting was the school board election in Woodland Park where former Jeffco school board president and current conservative WP superintendent Ken Witt lost and three candidates supported by teachers won. The victory for the teachers’ candidates was tight, but it’s enough to turn the board toward finding another district leader. Also up for review will be the preference Witt gave to charter school Merit Academy that took over part of the district’s middle school building, displacing sixth graders. The new board will also have to decide whether the district’s unique-in-the-nation switch to the American Birthright social studies standards and curriculum will hold.

Finally, this victory of the middle over the right end of the political spectrum will probably mean more loud WP board meetings. Welcome to school life in the third decade of the 21st century.

As for the remainder of the large school districts in the state, status quo prevailed. Jeffco’s current board majority held, Cherry Creek School district’s board policies will trundle forward, and Aurora public schools have voted in members who support the public in public schools.

Coloradans have a wonderful way of tempting politicians to move to the left or right side of the political spectrum. Then Election Day comes and those politicians inevitably get yanked right back to the middle.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.