Denver School Board races get heated, nearly $2 million spent on DPS Board election

On Tuesday voters will elect three school board members for Denver Public Schools. There has been a lot of big time spending on this school board race. Nearly $2 million has been spent on the election so far, including on a TV advertisement and mailers that have become a point of contention.

Million-dollar elections in Denver school board races are not anything new, but this year it is quite significant.

One group, Better Leaders Stronger Schools, which is an independent expenditure committee funded largely by Denver Families Action, a political arm of an organization affiliated with Denver Families for Public Schools, has spent over $1 million supporting candidates like John Youngquist, Marlene De La Rosa and Kimberlee Sia. That's according to campaign finance reports on file with the Colorado Secretary of State's office.

Candidates like Kwame Spearman, running against Youngquist for the at-large seat on the DPS board have faced some serious heat from groups like Better Leaders, Stronger Schools.

A television advertisement of Better Leaders Stronger Schools features Denver Mayor Mike Johnston endorsing the three candidates it is backing. They also have been sending out a mailer attacking Spearman.

Rob Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, called the mailer racist.

"When you look at that mailer and it talks about Kwame it is 'a bully' and on the flip side it has a picture of a young white child crying in the stairwell, the image that it has put out there it is just disgusting," said Gould.

He adds there is no place for politics like this on a school board race, however Dan Aschkinasi, a spokesman for Better Leaders Stronger Schools, group begs to differ. He says voter turnout for school board races is low, therefore he took initiative to inform voters on opposing candidates.

The teachers union and Spearman both feel it was a racist move, however Better Leaders Stronger Schools says it was a simple stock photo and had nothing to do with race.

"The description of the stock photo is on a kid who has been bullied," said Aschkinasi.

In the ad, the group also calls Spearman a sexist and a bully for how he allegedly treated his employees while CEO for the Tattered Cover Bookstore. Spearman has since stepped down and is now a co-owner.

"It is important for a group like mine to make sure voters are well informed about the candidates. I thought it was important to highlight Mr. Spearman's record as CEO, his record as a person and these articles that I found offensive," said Aschkinasi.

The "articles," according to Aschkinasi, objectified and insulted women and in one article he bragged about sexually harassing other students.

Spearman responded to the mailer as "dog whistling."

"When you have an agenda, when you want to privatize our schools, when you want to bring vouchers to our district, you have to find other ways to win, and unfortunately negativity has worked in the past, but I am confident it won't work here," said Spearman.

For years the Denver School Board was mainly pro-charter, but that flipped in 2019. Right now all seven current members of the Denver School Board has been backed up by the teachers union.

Still Aschkinasi says the focus is on the wrong thing.

"I wish folks were focused more on the talent and the opportunity we have to change the direction of DPS and sitting here talking about this stuff feels like a lot of the same," said Aschkinasi.

CBS News Colorado reached out to John Youngquist who is also running for as an at-large candidate for DPS school board and he decided not to comment.

The three seats up for grabs could have an influence and impact on future board's discussions.