The Gazette: Over 80 former and current Woodland Park School District teachers and staff publicly released a letter Thursday condemning a spate of controversial policies passed by the school board, defying what they say is an unconstitutional district policy restricting free speech.

During a news conference held before a standing room only crowd of over 100 at the Ute Pass Cultural Center, several of those 81 current and former employees who signed the letter detailed personal stories of how their students or own children and grandchildren have suffered, and how over a dozen employees saw their jobs eliminated, after the school board refused $1.5 million in grants to retain its social and behavioral health workers.

The teachers also spoke out against the leadership of current interim superintendent Ken Witt, whose contract was extended for a year in May, and his adoption of the markedly conservative social studies curriculum standard American Birthright – a curriculum the teachers said puts politics over academic readiness – within his first month of leadership in January.

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