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A “blue wave” swept across the country on Election Day. But in Denver, all the school board candidates were Democrats.
So, faced with similar choices, voters bubbled their ballots for the candidates endorsed by a Democratic stalwart: the teachers union.
“If you’re in a blue city and you’re a blue voter, you’re going to vote for the true-blue candidates — and the true-blue candidates were the union candidates,” said Van Schoales, a longtime supporter of the Democratic brand of education reform.
For many years, Denver Public Schools was considered a national exemplar of the type of education reform that favors school choice and charter schools but not private school vouchers. A 2019 teachers strike sparked in part by pushback to reform policies helped flip control of the school board back to members who had union support. The board has been chipping away at the district’s reform policies ever since, though some are coming back under new names.
Denver voters on Tuesday elected one union-backed incumbent, Xóchitl Gaytán, and three newcomers: Amy Klein Molk, DJ Torres, and Monica Hunter. All were decisive wins.
Hunter was at The Abbey Tavern, an Irish pub on Colfax Avenue, on election night. A former teacher with a blended family of six children, she said she was shocked when the first returns came in at 7 p.m. and showed her ahead of her three opponents.
Hunter hadn’t prepared a victory speech. She entered the race late and had been outspent by deep-pocketed pro-reform groups. She wasn’t expecting to win. On Wednesday, she said she attributes the union sweep partly to “the state of the world.”
“People don’t have food right now,” Hunter said, referring to the millions at risk of losing SNAP benefits due to the federal government shutdown. “They’ve seen so much on a global and federal level and they’re worried about their kids. They know they can trust teachers.”
Research shows teachers union endorsements carry great weight in school board elections. But they haven’t always translated to victory in Denver. Two years ago, three candidates backed by organizations that support charter schools and education reform won all of the seats up for grabs, ousting two union-backed incumbents and the newcomer on the ticket with them.
The 2023 election was a clear call for change. Voters were mad about a string of high-profile shootings at Denver’s largest high school. They were also mad about infighting on the school board that got so bad the now-mayor said the board had made DPS “more of a public embarrassment than a source of pride."
But that election wasn’t enough to take control of the seven-member board away from union-backed members. And Tuesday’s results solidified that majority.
“The union’s messaging clearly resonated with voters,” said Parker Baxter, the director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Colorado Denver, whose research found that DPS’ reforms were effective.
“It is possible that people who voted in this election thought they were voting to protect public education in Denver,” he said, referring to attempts by the Trump administration to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. “It’s very difficult to disentangle the atmospherics.”
Different factions interpret Denver election results differently
The teachers union and the pro-charter organizations have different takes on the results.
Denver Classroom Teachers Association President Rob Gould said voters “are sick and tired of billionaires coming in and trying to steal elections.” The pro-charter group that spent the most toward political ads, Denver Families Action, has ties to Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Texas philanthropist John Arnold.
Although the big spending isn’t new, more media coverage of so-called dark money, plus word of mouth spread by teachers, meant voters were more aware of that factor this year, Gould said.
“Our educators really stepped up and reached out,” Gould said. “We told our educators, ‘Call everybody you know. … Talk to people about what’s going on.’”
The head of Denver Families Action said Wednesday that it’s too early to draw conclusions about whether the election was a rebuke of that spending. Clarence Burton Jr., the group’s CEO, said he sees the results as a continued call for change.
Even though the four candidates endorsed by Denver Families Action lost, so did two incumbents, Scott Esserman and Michelle Quattlebaum. Both were previously backed by the teachers union but lost that endorsement this year because the union disagreed with some of their positions on teacher pay and union contract rights.
“People like their public schools,” said Burton, whose organization led a massive door-knocking effort in which paid canvassers talked to voters for more than a year. “They say, ‘We like Denver Public Schools.’ They say they don’t like the current board.”
Quattlebaum declined to speculate about the results. “The election is the election,” she said.
Gaytán, the only incumbent to win reelection, said that when she was knocking on doors in her southwest Denver district, her message of protecting teachers and paying them more resonated with voters, many of whom were new to the gentrifying neighborhoods.
“When I shared my values and accomplishments, especially in support of our teachers, I earned those votes from people,” Gaytán said.
A phenomenon noted by almost all observers was that the reform-backed candidates sounded more like the union-backed candidates this year. Burton said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“When we’re also focused on issues of increasing funding, decreasing class sizes, increasing mental health supports — you want to hear all candidates talking about that,” Burton said. “It’s reflective of what the community actually believes.”
But Gould said that when the candidates sound similar, endorsements really matter.
“The voters looked at who was supporting them and why,” he said.
Both sides hope new DPS board is more civil
While voters’ preferences were clear, it’s less clear what the new board will mean for the direction of DPS.
In Chalkbeat’s candidate questionnaire, the union-endorsed candidates gave Superintendent Alex Marrero higher marks than the candidates endorsed by Denver Families Action did. But it doesn’t appear they’ll back his every move. Gould said the union is “not wholeheartedly against” and “not wholeheartedly in support” of the superintendent.
“There are things Dr. Marrero can do better, period,” Gould said. “With this new board, they can have more of a critical lens at what the policies are, what we’re doing, and ways to shift resources and funds to make sure all dollars are maximized and support students in the classroom.”
One hope winners and losers from the election both share is that the new board will be more civil.
The public disagreements and social media sniping that characterized some board members’ interactions several years ago have died down. But a just-released investigation into the behavior of member John Youngquist and a possible censure vote have reignited concerns about division.
“We’ve all watched a lot of the infighting,” Hunter said. “My mentor sat me down and said, ‘You can’t pass a resolution alone. You better figure out how to get along.’
“That is my goal, truly, to figure out how we can all work collaboratively,” she added.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
