The Colorado teachers union confirmed adopting an anti-capitalist polemic at its 97th Annual Delegate Assembly.

The Colorado Education Association, which represents more than 39,000 K-12 teachers, support professionals and higher education staffers, held its assembly in April and passed this resolution: 

“The CEA believes that capitalism inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources. Capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.”

Bryan Lindstrom, a history teacher in Aurora who ran for city council in 2021, authored the resolution.

Lindstrom didn’t return requests for comment, but his Twitter feed hints of his ideological persuasion. On May 1, for example, he tweeted the last line from Marx and Engels’ The Communist Manifesto, “Workers of the world, unite!”

May 1 is International Workers’ Day.

In an email, the Colorado Education Association confirmed the resolution’s passage, as well as Lindstrom’s authorship. 

The resolution caused an uproar in Colorado and elsewhere. 

Brenda Dickhoner, president & CEO of Ready Colorado, which advocates for “choice” in schools, defended capitalism, saying it has “left us safer and ‘more equitable’ than any other economic system in human history.”

“With a majority of our students not reading, writing or doing math at grade level, we would urge the CEA to focus on improving student outcomes instead of dismantling an economic system that promotes human prosperity and innovation,” Dickhoner said. 

Michael Fields, a conservative political activist, said the resolution shows that the teachers’ union is “out of touch.”

“First, the CEA must be confused about where the money comes from that ultimately funds our education system. It’s capitalism,” he said. “Second, it shows how out of touch the CEA has become. Instead of focusing on what is best for kids, this group of activists is busy making political statements that have very little public support. Everyone wants kids to learn more – and for teachers to get paid more from our existing education budget. We should focus on those things.”

In a statement, Amie Baca-Oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association, described the resolution as “related to economic disparities that some of our students, public schools, and communities face and that many educators deal with every day.”

“Anti-public school forces have intentionally seized on this one resolution to distract us from the real issues facing our students,” she said, adding that “political opponents who want to defund public schools are now attacking CEA.” 

“This is a space where elected member educators adopt resolutions – belief statements for the organization – similar to election year Republican or Democratic party platforms,” Baca-Oehlert said of the union’s 97th Annual Delegate Assembly. “Recognizing that our members reflect our state’s diverse views and perspectives, these resolutions reflect our members’ aspirations in our collective endeavor to create a safer and more equitable world for Colorado’s students, educators, and communities, and do not require any action from the organization.”

Baca-Oehlert added that the resolutions adopted at the union’s meeting focused on school safety, mental health support, collective bargaining, and academic standards. She said the Colorado Education Association and its members are “committed to delivering an exceptional public education to every child regardless of where they live, what they look like, or how much their families earn.”