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New K-12 Advocacy Groups Wield State-Level Clout

Then-Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll, a Democrat, gavels to a start the 2010 state legislative session. Mr. Carroll, who was term-limited and left office in 2011, relied on education advocacy groups, including Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children, in helping to pass a new teacher-evaluation law. He says the groups helped organize teachers, parents, and students in support of the measure, which was fiercely opposed by the state teachers’ union.

—Andy Cross/The Denver Post-File

Impact seen on issues such as teacher evaluation, charter schools

By Stephen Sawchuk and Sean Cavanagh

By all accounts, the process of passing a new educator-evaluation law in Colorado was a bruising one. Lawmakers recall tearful meetings with teachers and their unions, vicious emails from constituents, and tense exchanges with colleagues.

It was 2010, the federal Race to the Top competition was well under way, and Terrance Carroll, a Democrat who was then the speaker of the House of Representatives, had the task of getting a bill that the state's largest and most powerful teachers' union refused to support through several key committee votes.

Senate Bill 191, which had already passed the Senate, tied evaluations to student achievement, revamped the tenure-granting process, and based teacher placement on factors other than seniority. It was a bitter pill for the Colorado Education Association , an affiliate of...