Colorado school board elections, 2016

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Elections

No Colorado school districts held general elections in 2016. School board elections in Colorado are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in odd-numbered years.

The 12 states without school board elections among the largest districts by enrollment in 2016 were Colorado, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington.

In 2015, a total of 21 Colorado school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections for 65 seats.

See also: Colorado school board elections, 2015

Issues

Voters replace board members after attempted curriculum reform

See also: Education reform: The fight to shape public school curriculum (2016)

The AP history curriculum was revised for the 2014-2015 school year by the College Board, which develops and administers the Advanced Placement exams. Following these changes, Jeffco Board of Education incumbent Julie Williams proposed the creation of a nine-member "Board Committee for Curriculum Review" in a special meeting on September 18, 2014. Her proposal described the purpose of the committee as follows:

Julie Williams

“	The charge to the committee is to review curricular choices for conformity to JeffCo academic standards, accuracy and omissions, and to inform the board of any objectionable materials. The committee shall regularly review texts and curriculum according to priorities that it establishes, however, at any time, the Board may add items to the list for review. The committee shall report all comments (majority and minority) to the board in writing on a weekly basis as items are reviewed. Board members may move for discussion or action on items reported when matters warrant public discussion or action. The committee’s initial projects will be a review of the AP US History curriculum and elementary health curriculum. Review criteria shall include the following: instructional materials should present the most current factual information accurately and objectively. Theories should be distinguished from fact. Materials should promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law. Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage. Content pertaining to political and social movements in history should present balanced and factual treatment of the positions.	”
—Julie Williams (2014)

John Newkirk

Williams also suggested that each board member be allowed to nominate three candidates for the committee, and that the board as a whole could then vote on which nine people to appoint. In that same meeting, board member John Newkirk submitted a revised draft of the proposal reducing the number of nominees to two candidates per member, removing the elementary health curriculum as an initial project, and eliminating the second paragraph of the original proposal. This limited the committee's initial projects to only a review of the Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum.

Ken Witt

The board tabled the initial proposals, which were later criticized as a plan to censor the history education received by students. In response to protests by students and teachers in the district, Board President Ken Witt criticized what he considered an effort "to use kids as pawns" and added, "I'm disappointed in the actors in this—the union message coming down through the teachers to get kids to deliberately get out and protest something they don't have any facts about whatsoever." Jefferson County Education Association President John Ford insisted that it was "insulting" for Witt to claim that students were being misled by their teachers on this debate. Ford also added that the board committee would be redundant due to the existence of the resource review committee, which included both residents and educators appointed by the district's chief academic officer.

The College Board also issued a statement criticizing the Jeffco Board of Education for its "blatant disregard for the facts" and insisted that "the most vocal critics have prioritized their own agenda above the best interests of teachers, students, and their families." In a separate statement following the outbreak of student and teacher protests against the proposed curriculum review committee, the College Board said in support, "These students recognize that the social order can—and sometimes must—be disrupted in the pursuit of liberty and justice." Stanley Kurtz, a writer with the National Review Online, published an opinion piece denouncing the new AP U.S. History curriculum as "a radically revisionist approach to American history" and claiming that the curriculum makes American history about "our capacity for self-delusion, our endless attempts to justify raw power grabs with pretty fairy-tales about democracy."

A group called Jeffco United for Action filed recall petitions against Williams, Witt, and Newkirk in the summer of 2015. All three members said they had no intentions of resigning from the board. Jeffco United for Action filed more than double the number of signatures needed to put the recall on the ballot. "Everybody's really worried about the direction that JeffCo Schools is headed in and this is their answer to helping stop that change that isn't good change," said campaign organizer Lynea Hansen.

Jeffco United for Action accused the three board members of attempting to censor AP U.S. history classes, pushing out over 700 district educators due to their new policies, wasting "millions of taxpayer dollars," violating open meeting laws, limiting public input at board meetings, bullying students and parents, and releasing private student information without consent. In response, all three board members highlighted what they saw as positive changes they had helped bring about in the district, including raising teacher salaries, making union negotiations transparent, providing free full-day kindergarten to families in need, and bringing greater equality in how the district funded its schools.

All three board members were recalled on November 3, 2015. Three new members were elected to replace them in the same election. The two remaining incumbents on the board were up for general election on the same day, but they did not file to keep their seats, which brought an additional two new members to the board. All five new members were part of a candidate slate called "The Clean Slate." The slate members' platform was support for the recall of the three Jeffco board members and opposition to the board majority.

Although it may have been the most visible, the controversy surrounding the changes to the AP U.S. history curriculum was not limited to Jeffco Public Schools. The New Hanover County Board of Education in North Carolina objected to the curriculum during an August 2014 board meeting. Additionally, criticism has been an issue for state boards of education in Texas, South Carolina, and Alabama.

Academic performance

See also: Public education in Colorado

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Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during school year 2012-2013. Compared to three neighboring states (New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), students in Colorado earned the highest scores in every category.

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013
	Math - Grade 4	Math - Grade 8	Reading - Grade 4	Reading - Grade 8
Colorado	50%	42%	41%	40%
New Mexico	31%	23%	21%	22%
Utah	44%	36%	37%	39%
Wyoming	48%	38%	37%	38%
United States	41%	34%	34%	34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

Graduation, ACT and SAT scores

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Colorado and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.

In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT, and 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.

Colorado schools reported a graduation rate of 76.9 percent, second lowest among its neighboring states.

In Colorado, more students took the ACT than the SAT, earning an average ACT score of 20.4.

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013
State	Graduation rate, 2013		Average ACT composite, 2013		Average SAT composite, 2013
	Percent	Quintile ranking**	Score	Participation rate	Score	Participation rate
Colorado	76.9%	Fourth	20.4	100%	1,721	14%
New Mexico	70.3%	Fifth	19.9	70%	1,626	12%
Utah	83%	Third	20.7	100%	1,684	6%
Wyoming	77%	Fourth	19.8	100%	1,757	4%
United States	81.4%		20.9	54%	1498	50%
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013"

Dropout rate

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for Colorado was higher than the national average at 5.1 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 4.9 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.

State profile

State profile

Demographic data for Colorado
	Colorado	U.S.
Total population:	5,448,819	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	103,642	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	84.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	4%	12.6%
Asian:	2.9%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	21.1%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.7%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	38.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$60,629	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	13.5%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Colorado. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Colorado

Colorado voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Colorado, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Colorado had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Colorado coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Colorado
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• Public policy in Colorado
• Endorsers in Colorado
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See also

Colorado	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in Colorado List of school districts in Colorado	School board elections, 2016 Colorado school board elections, 2015 Colorado school board elections, 2014	Education reform at the state and local levels (2016) School boards in session: 2015 in brief Analysis of spending in America's largest school districts Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey