Follow the Money

There's big money behind the takeover of education in Colorado.  Just look at the DougCo school board races and the move to privatize Douglas County schools. It starts out slowly and secretly and then it spreads. And, it has spread to Jefferson County.
 
Much of the money is hidden behind  campaign contributions funneled through 501(c)4  groups like Jeffco Students First Action, which worked to get Ken Witt, John Newkirk and Julie Williams elected.

 "The group received its funding from Jeffco Students First Action, a group that has been critical of district policies but which itself doesn’t have to report its contributors." ChalkBeat, 11/7/2013

The head of the Jeffco Students First, the parent group of Jeffco Students First Action, is Sheila Atwell. Who pays her salary? Who funds their work and their campaign contributions? Who paid for the high price law firm that filed their original paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office?

The paperwork was filed by a lawyer with Hackstaff Gessler in Denver. Does the name Scott Gessler ring a bell? To get that type of legal support you either need to have a lot of money, or connections, probably both. 

When Jeffco Students First suddenly appeared in Jefferson County, the group's website looked exactly like the website of Students First, a national organization founded by Michelle Rhee. Rhee was basically run out of her position as the chancellor of the Washington DC school system. She went on to get the support of large and well-funded conservative groups, like the Koch Brothers, to create Students First. While head of the D.C. schools, she was known at the "teacher terminator." She is also pro-voucher and pro-charter school.  Later, she was linked to a student test score cheating scandal.

Could it just be a coincidence that the two groups, the national conservative-funded Students First and Jeffco Students First, websites looked exactly alike and had matching content? Did they have matching donors?

Why does the Jefferson County group, and Atwell, hide campaign contributions, not only to Witt, Newkirk and Williams, but to Mapleton School Board's Jen Raiffie. Raiffie's donations were funneled through another group. (You do not want your children to act like Raiffie does. See here and here.)

It should be noted that Sheila Atwell is not a Jeffco schools parent.  Her children attend private school.

Colorado's Big Money
Witt, Newkirk and William's banker, Jeffco Students First, which has tried to stay in the shadows, also has ties to big Colorado money. During the campaign, those in the favored circle received this invitation:

Alex Cranberg, the energy millionaire and one of the hosts of this Jeffco Students First soiree, has a long history of influencing education.

"In Colorado, when a school voucher initiative he backed failed, he joined with others to create the Alliance for Choice in Education, a nonprofit group . . ." New York Times, 6/11/11

Follow the money and get the answers about Witt, Newkirk and Williams.  I fear they will reinforce my concern for Jeffco's children. Jeffco parents, its time to take back our school district, demand transparency from Jeffco Students First, Sheila Atwell, Attorney Brad Miller and the three board members.