Dems want Moloney to step down

Divided education board squares off over state leadership

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 12, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Education

Democrats on the bitterly divided Colorado Board of Education want William Moloney to step down as education commissioner, saying he provides poor leadership.

Republicans, however, remain in his corner.

Moloney himself says he's staying on at least through the end of the year.

The eight-member board is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, leading to frequent deadlock.

Board members have quarreled in private over whether Moloney, 65, should stay, but the issue became public Thursday, one day after district superintendents said schools need better leadership from the state to help them meet Colorado's educational goals, such as closing the gap in test scores between minority students and Anglos.

The superintendents, sticking to diplomatic language, didn't blame Moloney directly.

But Democratic board members did during a tense board discussion Thursday.

Board member Jared Polis, of Boulder, said the superintendents wouldn't be criticizing the state Department of Education if Moloney were doing a better job.

"He's the chief education officer of the state. He needs to provide leadership," Polis said following the meeting.

Republicans pointed to Moloney's initiatives in improving reading. He has, for example, named a five-member committee to review teacher education programs.

"I think we're moving forward," said board member Peggy Littleton, of Colorado Springs.

Moloney said friction with school districts has risen in the past 10 years with the department's enforcement of new state and federal laws aimed at improving schools.

The department oversees state achievement tests, the issuing of annual school report cards and compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Moloney said.

The board will revert to seven seats in 2007. Having a majority - Republican or Democrat - on the board will clear the air on a number of issues, including whether he stays, Moloney said.

In March, Democrats and Republicans on the board were so divided over controversial classroom remarks by Overland High School geography teacher Jay Bennish that they couldn't even agree on a motion to adjourn.

Board Chairwoman Pamela Jo Sukla, a Republican, warned board members Thursday that the discussion on Moloney was reaching that point.

"We all acted like a bunch of children," she said of the March breakdown.

Sukla said the board can exert leadership by reviewing various agencies within the Education Department, rather than by firing Moloney. The board will take that up at its July meeting, she said.

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News