Colorado schools are on the struggle bus. Statewide CMAS tests revealed deteriorating academic performance to levels unseen in years.

It’s evident in Woodland Park, in the heart of Colorado. Just 28.6% of students met or exceeded expectations in math. Only 45.3% can read at grade level. Yet, rather than solving learning gaps, the teachers unions are coordinating statewide to thwart school boards and district leaders who aren’t toeing their line.

Woodland Park is the largest town in solid-Republican Teller County. Nestled on Pike’s Peak’s north slope, this community of some 8,000 people has become emblematic of the rank indifference teachers unions are showing to what Colorado’s kids need most. The unions’ idea of a crisis isn’t the problem of plummeting student achievement or double-digit enrollment declines — it’s a problem of politics.

Woodland Park’s union leaders abhor the school board’s support for charter schools — an educational option widely embraced by parents. They oppose the board’s adoption of “American Birthright” social studies standards — a traditional approach to social studies curriculum. They are aghast the board would hire Ken Witt, a former president of Colorado’s second largest school district, Jefferson County’s, as interim superintendent — because he doesn’t endorse their politics.

The claims of “crisis” were revealed at a secret Jan. 30 meeting organized by the Woodland Park Education Association (WPEA), a recording of which I’ve obtained. Led by Nate Owen, WPEA’s president and a longtime Woodland Park math and science teacher, the meeting included an estimated 80 employees.

“The WPEA has filed for a ‘crisis assessment’ from (the Colorado Education Association). They’ve bypassed…the pre-assessment,” Owen informed his audience. “If we get that crisis grant, there will be some additional funding coming our way to allow us to do some more things. (We) have two zone organizers that are assigned to our group that are helping organize us and figure out how we can be better together.”

When I inquired with the CEA, however, President Amie Baca-Oehlert wouldn’t say if Woodland Park is in “crisis.” In an emailed statement, she claimed “the CEA has no publicly available classification of any Colorado public schools.” But in the meeting, Owen privately classified it: “CEA is watching what’s going on, and they recognize we are in crisis.”

In response to my emailed questions, Owen declined to detail the purpose of his meeting, asserting it was “private…for our staff and our staff alone. I asked the attendees for respect of privacy so as to create a safe space to allow for open dialogue and I feel that it is important that I honor that confidentiality as well.” In a district where fewer than 30% of educators are union members, though, union leaders shouldn’t presume their colleagues all agree with concealing their power moves. Woodland’s union is actively collaborating with others. Chris Idzik, representing the Pikes Peak Education Association, and Thad Gemski, executive director of the Colorado Springs Education Association, both participated in the meeting. Gemski declared “a statewide battle, regional battle – (Woodland Park is) one of the epicenters.”

“We’ve seen this same fight get fought across the state,” Owen affirmed, citing current and recent “fights” in DougCo, Pueblo and Colorado Springs. “I have reached out to some of my contacts at all of these other districts, and they said…let us know and we will be there to support you.”

Stressing their contempt for Witt as the board’s interim superintendent — a six-month stint, but somehow part of the “crisis” — WPEA is bringing an operative from Jeffco (Ashlyn Maher) who Owen said “led Students against Ken Witt” when Witt was Jeffco’s board president.

Last summer, the board welcomed Merit Academy into the district. The charter school has since become the driving force for modest growth in Woodland Park’s student enrollment — which had dropped by 15% district-wide since 2016. The board has since invited other charter applications.

The union leaders are stoking fears of charter schools among their members. Owen suggested the district could “open 13 charters and one K-12 school to anybody” — an unserious proposition, especially for a district with only seven schools. Gemski remarked, “Mike Miles, Merit Academy — all those people are flashes in the pan. Figure out how you are going to recapture your district.”

In her statement, Baca-Oehler added that “the CEA was disappointed to see the so-called ‘American Birthright’ standards adopted by Woodland Park School District.” She claimed the standards “are outliers in its biased and disingenuous portrayal of our country’s history” and that “educators must be allowed to tell the honest and accurate truth about our country’s past and present – without censoring unflattering elements…” (On the contrary, American Birthright includes numerous discussions of such “unflattering elements” as slavery and Jim Crow.)

Woodland Park’s school board has a renewed focus on academic success. While you may disagree with their decisions, you cannot deny meaningful change is vital — and the board is within its rights under Colorado’s system of local control.

Charter schools may help meet Woodland’s particular needs, as they can boost district enrollment and academic performance, provide higher teacher pay and empower more families. The American Birthright standards use traditional social studies over hyper-politicized ones. Last summer, the board voted to give teachers and staff a well-deserved 8.5% raise. Do these things constitute a “crisis” that demands unions everywhere swoop into Woodland Park?

Let’s be real: Woodland’s true crisis is diminishing student achievement – a status quo threatened by non-union entities offering superior outcomes. “This board, and Witt, have gone rogue,” Idzik declared. If anyone has gone rogue, it’s the teachers union bosses who believe they deserve political power over local school districts seeking a better education for their community’s kids.

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and host of “The Jimmy Sengenberger Show” Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on News/Talk 710 KNUS. Reach Jimmy online at JimmySengenberger.com or on Twitter @SengCenter.