UPDATE 2: Carroll denies ever deciding to get in the race, but that’s not apparently the impression he left with a number of high profile folks:
@COpeakpolitics I was never "in"…I was asked to think about it & decided against a run. #copolitics
— Terrance Carroll (@speakercarroll) June 7, 2013
UPDATE: Our sources stand corrected, although Carroll was apparently “in” at prior points this month.
@COpeakpolitics @bendegrow @COeducation I do not intend to run for school board. I fully support Barbara O’Brien #copolitics
— Terrance Carroll (@speakercarroll) June 7, 2013
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Sources are telling Colorado Peak Politics that former Democratic House Speaker Terrance Carroll is going to run for the Denver school board.
During his time in the legislature Carroll was a strong supporter of school reform, especially charter schools. He’s had no fear in challenging the status-quo-supporting teachers unions that form a major backbone of the Democratic Party’s political infrastructure.
In January Carroll, along with former Colorado Democratic Senate President Peter Groff, was announced as a member of the Democrats for Education Reform Speakers Bureau. The group was formed to “support current Democratic legislators with a commitment to education reform and facilitate ongoing discussions on reform efforts in Democratic policy circles,” according to Forbes.
News of Carroll’s candidacy comes a day after it was revealed that former Lt. Governor Barbara O’Brien, also a supporter of education reform, was also running for the Denver school board.
This is all part of a broader fight for education reform, from Republicans in Douglas County to Democrats in Denver.
School choice is no longer a partisan issue, but one pitting those in favor of reforming a broken system against those clinging to the perks and privileges of the status quo.
With reformers like Carroll and O’Brien taking on the unions in the heart of deep blue Denver, supporters of school choice should be cheering.