douglas-county-schoolsLearning lessons from their more organized brothers and sisters in Jefferson County, the Douglas County teachers union is trying to pull the same shenanigans in Douglas County that the Jefferson County Education Association successfully maneuvered in Jefferson County. Today, students from Ponderosa High School staged a walk out claiming a protest over teachers turnover due to the school board’s so-called radical policies.

Yawn.

We heard this in 2013. We heard this before in advance of the Jeffco recalls. It’s a tired talking point. Douglas County School District chief Liz Fagan noted that the majority of the teachers that left were rated poorly in teacher evaluations, so their departure is not actually negative. From the Denver Post:

“Fagen said if the data is drilled down, they show that most of the turnover has happened among ineffective teachers (88 percent) while more than 95 percent of highly effective teachers have been retained.

‘We want to work with schools and principals on our turnover situation,’ she said.”

Of course, high school students staged a walk out today. It’s the first nice day of the year. Those students, like those in Jefferson County, should just get back to class.