Kerrie Dallman
This year might just be the year of education drama and with the leading role played by embattled Colorado Education Association President Kerrie Dallman. Apparently, Dallman, who is known for overplaying her hand, held a meeting at a Cap Hill watering hole with several Democratic legislators where she revealed her devious (read: lame) plans to replace outgoing Colorado Commissioner of Education, Robert Hammond. Dallman’s close ally, Eagle County superintendent Jason Glass, has “been playing the Republican State Board of Education chair” and Glass believes that he even has board member and super strategist Steve Durham and the right wing convinced that he’s on their side by telling him he’s against over-testing in Colorado’s schools.
But, the truth is that Glass secretly is helping the out-of-control Jeffco teachers union, and has promised urban superintendents more funding if he’s commissioner. With testing as the Trojan Horse, Glass would eliminate testing to make Republicans happy, but he would focus primarily on the testing that holds teachers accountable and that feeds their evaluations. Republicans might be happy initially, but, then, he plans to oppose any charter or voucher programs and to continue to support Common Core and PARCC testing.
This should come as no surprise to those who knew him in Iowa. According to a report from the Sioux City Journal, Glass has been cozy with Big Education Testing for some time:
“That conference [in Brazil] was paid for by a grant of the Pearson Foundation, the charitable arm of the mega-testing company. An ethics complaint was filed and eventually dismissed, but not until after Glass took some drubbing from critics.”
From appearances on social media, this guy leans left, but reading his bio, one might think twice. He claims to have led a reform effort when he held the top education spot in Iowa. Let’s hope our friends on the State Board of Education do their homework on this guy. Either he’s with the unions and the Republican majority on the Board of Education could appoint a union hack or he’s telling Dallman everything she wants to hear. Someone’s going to get played here – will it be the Republican majority or Kerrie Dallman?