School board elections are weird. They happen only in off years, they're low profile, and are officially non-partisan. That means there's no (D) or (R) next to any of the names.
While this might sound wonderfully bipartisan and nonpolitical, the truth is the candidates are most indeed Rs or Ds. The problem is that your typical voter (someone, perhaps, like you!) ends up having no idea who to vote for without going out and doing a ton of research. And even then, candidate websites are remarkable vague, choosing to focus on bland platitudes. As a result, many voters simply don't mark a candidate for school board on their ballots.
In some recent Jeffco School Board elections, only about a quarter of eligible voters have cast their vote for a school board candidate. Unfortunately, this allows ideologically extreme candidates to slip into office, because their supporters most definitely know who to vote for and what positions they're getting from their vote. We saw this in 2015, when a group of right-wing, Trump-like ideologues took control of Jeffco, to ruinous effect.
This year the pandemic has exacerbated the situation, and anti-mask, anti-science, anti-public education candidates are running for the Jeffco school board. Folks, it's scary.
Fortunately, a slate of quietly competent, pro-public education candidates are also running. Meet Paula Reed, Danielle Varda, and Mary Parker.
Rather than bomb-throwing and making ideological stands for clicks, these three women are interested in fixing problems and moving Jeffco forward. Their slogan ("Let's work together to build bright futures for Jeffco kids") might sound a little cheesy, but they mean it. So make sure you vote this November. There's a lot riding on it. Again.
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