Last fall, the Colorado Education Association boasted that over 80% of the candidates it endorsed statewide won their races. But scratch beneath the surface of that talking point and you’ll find a very different story — one that reveals not union strength, but growing teacher discontent and a roadmap for educational improvement that doesn’t require collective bargaining agreements.
The real story is unfolding in Colorado Springs, where School District 11 is in its first year without a teachers’ union contract. And the results speak louder than any union press release.
For years, D-11 struggled. Student performance declined. The district landed on state watch lists — not once but multiple times. Teachers were frustrated, hamstrung by rigid contract provisions that prevented administrators from making necessary changes. It was textbook institutional dysfunction.
Then the D-11 school board made a decision not to renew its contract with the Colorado Education Association. Union officials predicted disaster. Mass teacher exodus. Educational collapse…