WOODLAND PARK, Colo. — Dozens of teachers in southern Colorado put their jobs on the line this week as they urged the board of education to make changes to curriculum and mental health services.
Anna Hand is one of them.
“I have been a teacher in Woodland Park for 15 years and love it,” she told 9NEWS on Thursday.
But certain words she used in our interview seemed opposite of love.
"There's definitely that culture of fear. And I'm afraid now," she said.
Hand and 80 of her colleagues with the Woodland Park School District have signed a letter addressed to their community in Teller County that calls for the board to “prioritize our children’s futures over politics.”
The letter specifically criticizes the “American Birthright” social studies model. Woodland Park’s school board was the first in the country this year to adopt the conservative civics education program, which promotes American patriotism and deems social justice, diversity, equity and inclusion topics to “inhibit student learning.”
The Colorado State Board of Education has rejected this syllabus.
These teachers also take issue with the board’s decision to reject applying for mental health grants that could fund mental health employees for students.
The school district has lost about 40% of its teachers, including mental health and social workers.
“I'm speaking because I believe it's the right thing, and I teach my students to use their voices to say what they believe. I'm terrified,” Hand said.
Teachers who publicly criticize the board could be considered insubordinate because of a district policy, known as KDDA, that directs staff not to speak to the media without written consent from Superintendent Ken Witt. It also limits what can be posted to social media.
The state educators' union and its Woodland Park chapter sued over that policy in August.
“There are many more [teachers] who would have signed, if not for being afraid,” Hand said.
9NEWS asked to speak to someone from the school district Thursday afternoon and heard back later in a statement from Witt that the district is disappointed "to see the teachers union prioritize its political views over the needs of students."
Another Colorado school district may follow Woodland Park by adopting American Birthright standards. Garfield County's RE-2 school board are expected to vote on the curriculum at the end of this month.
The full letter from the teachers can be seen below:
Dear Members of the Woodland Park Community:
We, the teachers and staff of Woodland Park, are writing because we are deeply concerned about the direction that Ken Witt and the current school board are taking our district and the effect that will have on the broader community. We feel that in the face of the current administration's attack on our students’ learning environments, we can no longer stay silent. We must utilize our Constitutional rights to speak out against what we feel is incompetent leadership actively harming our students and community. It pains us to write this because we deeply love our students and the community of Woodland Park. But it has become abundantly clear to us that the direction that Ken Witt and the school board are taking our schools is unsustainable and detrimental to our students and our greater community.
Right now, the students at Woodland Park schools are missing out on the quality education of their predecessors. This is a direct result of dangerous decisions like refusing funding for mental health support, implementing the American Birthright Standards, and leaving parents and teachers out of these crucial decisions of the current elected school board and superintendent. We lost close to 40% of our teachers and staff last year. It is our students who are suffering the most because of that loss. Our students have lost decades of institutional knowledge that only years of direct pedagogical instruction can replicate. We regret the circumstances are such that these respected and valued teachers and staff saw no choice but to leave the classrooms and schools they loved.
In addition to the loss of institutional knowledge, we’re deeply concerned about the adoption of the American Birthright Standards. We believe that our job as educators is to prepare our students for the future. These state-rejected social studies standards are putting our kids’ futures at risk. Many social studies courses that our students took in the past are no longer NCAA accredited due to the change in standards. This means when our students want to register to be eligible to play college sports, they can no longer count these unaccredited classes towards those requirements. We need to ensure that our students are college-ready, if they choose to pursue that path, and the American Birthright Standards do not measure up to the rigorous academic standards that Woodland Park has prided itself on in the past.
Preparing our students for success also means ensuring that their social and emotional needs are being met, and right now, the mental health support in our schools is woefully inadequate to meet the current demand. The School Board chose not to renew $1.2 million in grant funding which had previously been used to support student mental health services. This resulted in the reduction of 15 mental health positions, such as school counselors. We strongly believe that mental health is integral to academic success and that students must be treated as the developing young minds that they are. Cutting funding for mental health support in our schools when students are facing a variety of challenges and changes both at home and in school was entirely the wrong decision to make. This cut is both short sighted and dangerous. Our community is stronger and safer when our students have adequate mental health support.
Finally, as teachers and staff in Woodland Park, we feel that we cannot continue to work under the current culture of fear and silence created by the school board. We are concerned that, eventually, the current district administration will drive everyone away, and the ones who will suffer the most are our students and our community at large.
As teachers, staff, and members of this community, we stand together, knowing that we might face illegal repercussions for this letter. However, standing up for our students' futures depends on taking action now. As teachers, parents, and members of this community, our voices cannot be silenced any longer. We implore you, the members of our beloved community, to call on the current school board to reinstate state-approved social studies standards, to reapply for the grant funding that is allocated towards mental health support in our schools, and to prioritize our children’s futures over politics.
Sincerely,
Woodland Park Teachers and Staff
The full response from Superintendent Ken Witt can be read below:
It continues to disappoint us to see the teachers union prioritize its political views over the needs of students. If the energy they invest in attacking the Woodland Park School District (WPSD) administration and school board was instead turned towards academics, there would not be a need for the board to direct implementation of sound and fundamental educational standards.
This “teacher press conference” appears to be another union tactic to again dredge up issues that have been thoroughly addressed. These union affiliates are engaging in political maneuvering when the focus should be on the education and safety of our students, which they claim to care deeply about. We are equally disappointed but unsurprised to see CBS choose to be a platform for union opposition to the improvement of education in Woodland Park, enthusiastically seeking to assist in the union opposition to our school board.
Yes, this district adopted a traditional framework for civics and social studies - because we had to realign from courses such as “civil disobedience” and statements by the teachers union in Colorado that they disavow Capitalism, the free market which makes this nation the envy of the world, while they quip communist tropes. And yes, we still ensure we meet or exceed Colorado state standards.
Our community is tired of teachers believing they have the authority to determine what is taught. This is the responsibility of the people, through their elected representatives, the board of education. The concept of teacher supremacy over the rights of parents, voters, and even representative democracy must be rejected.
Yes, we declined some money earmarked for mental health services, which are often utilized for gender confusion and sexual identity matters instead of the sort of counseling and character development that our schools ought to pursue. We are returning to pre-COVID norms, focusing on teaching academics rather than loading the system with so many social workers and mental health practitioners that little time is left for learning. We have a counselor in every school and teachers who are trusted adults and watchful for students needing additional support. We also forged a new partnership with Mindsight this year to ensure we have all mental health support needed.
This district aims to design policies that uphold a respectful working and learning environment while fully honoring First Amendment rights. It is important to emphasize that WPSD does not seek to suppress anyone's First Amendment rights. Nevertheless, it is expected that all district employees conduct themselves professionally and portray the district aims positively when working in their capacity as employees, where they have a role as representatives of WPSD.
We recognize that there continue to be staff members who seek to pursue goals related to unorthodox worldviews that run counter to the values of this community, but we are adamant that the role of the school is to come alongside parents in the education of their children. It is not the role of the school to be endorsing ideologies or undermine the values taught in the home. This administration proudly acknowledges the accomplishments which this small group of union-affiliated individuals decry. Their proposed alternative, a return to sexual politics, anti-capitalism, and hatred for America, is unacceptable to the administration of this school district, our board, and our community.
Ken Witt, Superintendent
Woodland Park School District
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