The race between Republican incumbent Marcia Neal and her Democratic challenger Henry Roman is a contest between two longtime educators for a seat on the Colorado Board of Education. Roman is the better choice.
The Board of Education is made up of one representative from each of the state’s seven congressional districts, plus the state’s commissioner of education acting as the nonvoting board secretary. Members serve for six-year terms.
Henry Roman, from Pueblo, has spent 45 years in education as a teacher, principal, superintendent and consultant. He would engage the board more closely with the Legislature while bills are still being crafted.
He also wants a greater emphasis on early-childhood education, especially for children from lower socioeconomic levels. As he said, “The gap is already wide when they come to kindergarten, and it just keeps getting wider after that.”
Marcia Neal, from Grand Junction, is running for her second term and appears eminently qualified. A history teacher for 25 years, she also served for eight years on the Mesa County Board of Education.
Unfortunately, she seems to see the main issue as a contest between federal and local control. And with that she has unnecessarily politicized the national standards of student achievement in math and English called Common Core.
As she put it, her “primary seemed to be about who’s more against Common Core.”
The problem is that Common Core is simply a worthwhile effort to enact agreed-upon standards led by the states. It is not a federal program or a curriculum and does not tell teachers what to teach.
Roman’s focus is better. Vote for Henry Roman for the Colorado Board of Education.
