Jason Unger

Jason Unger is running for the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Board of Directors in District A, which is primarily in the City of Boulder south of Arapahoe, west of Foothills, and north of Table Mesa, but see the map below for better detail. BVSD Directors are elected by all voters in the entire BVSD area, though they run as residents of a given geographic district. Terms are for four years, and Directors are limited to two terms.

Relevant Experience

  • Founder, Baseline Strategies, Consulting practice focused on federal and state education policy, 7 years
  • Legislative Director and Senior Advisor on Education, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), 14 years
  • Master’s in Public Policy and Education, Harvard University, 2003
  • School Administrator Credential, Harvard University, 2003
  • School Principal Practicum, Title I K-5 Elementary School, Boston Public Schools, 1 year
  • Elementary School Teacher (4th/5th), Title I K-5 Elementary School, Compton (CA) Unified School District, 4 years
  • Bilingual and Multicultural Teaching Credential, California State University, Dominguez Hills, 2001
  • National Disney Elementary School Teacher of the Year, 2001
  • Assistant Teacher, Spanish and Outdoor Education, Crossroads School (CA), 1 year
  • Bachelor’s Degree, Economics and Political Science, Minor in Education, UCLA, 1997

Q: What made you decide to run?

I have spent more than twenty-five years working in education – as a fourth and fifth grade teacher in Compton, CA; as a school administrator at a school serving students with special needs in the Boston Public Schools; as the education advisor to the former U.S. Senate Majority and Minority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), for more than a dozen years; as a parent of two – soon to be three kids – in BVSD schools; and as an involved and active volunteer at our neighborhood school and member and former chair of our school’s School Accountability Committee. Additionally, with four of the seven seats on the board open this fall, it is critical that we elect board members who have experience and are prepared for the challenging issues ahead. And lastly, I am deeply concerned about some of the recent anti-equity policies supported b school boards around the country – and want to ensure that BVSD remains a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive district for all kids and staff. I am running for BVSD School Board because, with my experience at all levels of education, I am prepared and ready to serve.

Q: Are there specific needs in your geographic district?

The issue of declining enrollment and the resulting budget cuts will be the most significant challenge facing the district and the next school board. For District A in particular, the decline in enrollment in most of our district’s schools is our most pressing concern. To help address the issue, I support many of the recommendations of the Long Range Advisory Committee. As a first step, the district should revisit school boundary zones and our open enrollment process to help rebalance school sizes and encourage more kids to attend their neighborhood schools. The district should also look at how to better share resources across schools and more specific ways to allow schools with enrollment challenges to develop a focus that could serve as a magnet for neighborhood families. On a larger level, the district needs to have a better understanding of why families are leaving the district – whether because of affordability, because they are moving to private schools, or other reasons – and what we can do to help bring them back to the district.

Q: How would you characterize BVSD’s current level of academic performance and your performance priorities?

In terms of academic performance as measured by standardized testing and compared with districts across Colorado, BVSD is a strong, higher-performing district. As a district, we have made progress in addressing some of our most challenging issues, including real growth and improvement for our lowest-performing students and at some of our lower-performing schools. However, with just 61% of our students meeting or exceeding expectations in English/language arts and just over half in math on the 2023 CMAS assessment, a lot of work remains to raise the bar for all students. We must continue to focus on making sure all students are reading at or above grade level and we need to do more to improve math fundamentals. And we should continue to build on the progress made under the GradPlus program and to focus on improving career and technical education so all BVSD graduates are prepared for college or a career. Beyond these core academic areas, as a strong believer in doing more to provide a well-rounded education, I am very supportive of the incredible arts and music education our students receive and believe we should do more to expose and provide access to foreign language instruction at an early age.

Q: Do you believe BVSD has done a good job managing educational achievement gaps? If not, what can BVSD do to narrow the gaps?

We should be proud of the work that the district has done to help close achievement gaps and, through differentiated funding, help our lower-performing schools make real improvement. However, as CMAS scores have shown, BVSD still has notable gaps in achievement between different schools and across different communities and student demographics. The district’s strategic plan, with a focus on a strong instructional model and on building systems of supports for all students, has helped narrow these achievement gaps. And though many of these gaps were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, I believe the district should continue the path set by the strategic plan, but with a renewed focus and attention on instruction that is, to quote the plan, “challenging, engaging, relevant, and meets the needs of all students.” My experience as a former teacher and administrator in Title I schools has shown me that there is nothing more important than raising the bar for all students and making sure all students are challenged and engaged.

Q: What is your take on the use of or reliance on standardized testing in today’s educational environment, and would you favor changes?

I support standardized testing and believe that these assessments provide teachers, school leaders, and parents with an important, though limited, snapshot of where students perform well and areas of need. Assessments allow us to compare across schools and districts, to better understand achievement gaps, and can help inform teaching and curriculum. However, as teachers know well, standardized testing has limits. They only provide a snapshot of how students are doing. And it is difficult for teachers to use the results, which arrive months after students take the test, in planning or determining instruction. While testing is a component of assessing teacher effectiveness, I believe more relevant measures such as observations and in-person evaluations provide a more accurate and thorough picture of how well teachers are doing.

Q: General thoughts on BVSD finance, including whether you could favor running a future ballot measure that would increase revenue for BVSD?

I supported Issue 5A and, as a parent of BVSD kids and a resident supportive of improving public education and the facilities where we educate our kids, am excited about the impact of this funding. In particular, I am looking forward to a new school to serve the needs and growth in Erie and the beautiful new facility for New Vista. Before asking voters to support another bond measure, the district must make sure to be a good steward of public funds and carefully consider future needs. And, in an environment of potential budget cuts, the district must work to make sure funding is spent efficiently and fairly across the district, and work to reduce unnecessary administrative costs. Should additional needs arise, I am supportive of developing a solid, evidence-based proposal for funding to put before the voters.

Q: What are your thoughts on censorship of materials in school districts, and what would your thought process include if there were calls to censor materials in BVSD?

I am deeply concerned about efforts on school boards and in legislatures around the country to censor viewpoints or rewrite some of the more difficult aspects of our nation’s history. In my professional life, I helped form and lead a coalition of national education and civil rights groups to respond to and help counter some of these efforts. Ensuring these views don’t gain a foothold in Boulder Valley was one of the reasons I decided to run for the school board. I support providing transparency for parents and families on curriculum and instruction, as the district currently does. Should individual families or parents choose to opt their student out of certain materials, that is their right, but I would strongly oppose any effort to have that extend to censoring, removing, or banning those materials for other students.

Q: Has BVSD done a good job managing pandemic-related learning loss, or does work remain to be done?

While CMAS scores show that the district has made some progress in addressing the learning loss caused by COVID-19, BVSD and districts across the country will be dealing with the effects of the pandemic for the foreseeable future. Perhaps more urgent than the learning loss is the impact on students’ mental health. The 2023 Kids Count report using data from the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey showed that, statewide, a third of high school kids responded that they felt sad or hopeless for more than two weeks in a row. These statistics seem consistent with what I have heard as I have met with students and parents over the past few months. To address the mental health needs of our students, the district must invest more resources to ensure students have regular access to caring, responsive counselors and to expand the school wellness centers beyond Monarch High to other middle and high schools across the district.

Q: What are your thoughts about education related to diversity in BVSD?

As a former elementary teacher and administrator, I worked to ensure that classrooms, curriculum, libraries and our school’s environment were inclusive and welcoming for all students. As I did in my own classroom and school, for all grade levels there are age-appropriate ways to promote and include a broad understanding of history and literature. As a parent and regular volunteer in my kids’ classrooms, I believe our school – and BVSD as a district – does a good job at building and supporting the types of environments where all students feel welcome, represented, and seen. Additionally, ensuring that our teaching and administrative staff reflects the diversity of our students is essential. The district should continue to prioritize building on the current efforts to attract and retain a more diverse teaching staff.

Q: Changing demographics within BVSD might mean there could be school closures or other changes. What factors would enter your thought process if closures are considered?

As I noted above, the issue of declining enrollment and the resulting budget cuts will be the most significant challenge facing the district. To help address the issue, I support many of the recommendations of the Long Range Advisory Committee (LRAC). As a first step, and before we even begin to consider closing schools, the district should revisit school boundary zones and our open enrollment policies to help rebalance school sizes and better encourage kids to attend their neighborhood schools. Also, as the LRAC recommended, the district should work with schools with declining enrollment to think creatively about how they can become a focus school or offer specialized programming to help attract more students and families. On a larger level, I believe the district needs to rethink the three-round school model and consider a more updated, relevant, and sustainable model of what a BVSD school should be.

Q: How do you keep in touch with the thoughts of students and parents now, and/or how do you plan to keep in touch if elected?

As a parent of two BVSD kids, I am able to stay involved and updated on most school and district-related issues. Our third child is not yet a BVSD student but will keep us active and engaged in the schools and district until 2039. While having kids in BVSD schools is not a requirement for board members, I believe there is no better way to understand what is happening at the school level and in the district.

I have also served for five years on the Creekside Elementary School Accountability Committee, which has kept me informed about district policies and how they impact our school, and the unique needs and concerns of our school community. In addition, over the course of the campaign, I have worked to meet with parents or parent leaders from each of the 56 schools in the district (as of early September, I am at 35!). This has really helped me develop a better understanding of the school community and the unique issues and challenges facing each school. Should I be elected to the school board, this knowledge and the relationships I have formed, will help me be a more thoughtful and responsive board member – and I will work to continue this outreach and engagement throughout my service on the board.

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