“Let’s make Colorado public schools the best in the nation for a student to get a great education! Every public school should be a place where parents want to send their kids, where educators want to work, and where students love to learn.
By working together, we can make sure every Colorado student graduates with a world-class education that prepares them to live a great life.”
Kathy Plomer | Candidate
Colorado State Board of Education, At-Large
“Let’s make Colorado public schools the best in the nation for a student to get a great education! Every public school should be a place where parents want to send their kids, where educators want to work, and where students love to learn.
By working together, we can make sure every Colorado student graduates with a world-class education that prepares them to live a great life.
Kathy Plomer | Candidate
Colorado State Board of Education, At-Large
Meet Kathy Plomer
Problem Solver, Public Servant, Mom.
My name is Kathy Plomer and I am running for the Colorado State Board of Education (At-Large) to make Colorado the best place in the country for our students to receive a world-class public education that prepares them for the workforce, and to be a champion for future generations of students in every corner of our state.
These are difficult times in our democracy, but I have spent my life both professionally and as a school leader listening, bringing people together and solving problems. My family taught me early on the value of hard work, serving others, and community. My mom is a role model for me when it comes to volunteer community service.
I have worked in the public health field for 30 years in a variety of roles – I was an HIV/AIDS educator when the disease was just becoming known, I championed early detection of breast cancer as part of my work in cancer research, and I successfully fought to keep big tobacco off school grounds. My most recent job was assisting COVID impacted people with resources to address challenges like, access to food, healthcare, and housing.
My husband, Jeff, and I have three kids who are products of a Colorado public education. They went on to attend Colorado State University and the University of Denver. I know firsthand what it means to engage parents and community members. As a parent, I served as president of my local Parent Teacher Organization and on the District Accountability Committee. As a district leader, I ensured a district budget of over $450 million operated with transparency and accountability.
As a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Association of School Boards and President of the Adams 12 Board of Education, I brought together people of various backgrounds to ensure all children – no matter their zip code, receive an excellent education. We can make Colorado the national leader for public education. It takes all of us working together.
Meet Kathy Plomer
Problem Solver, Public Servant, Mom.
My name is Kathy Plomer, and I am running for the Colorado State Board of Education (At-Large) to make Colorado the best place in the country for our students to receive a world-class public education that prepares them for the workforce and to be a champion for future generations of students in every corner of our state.
These are difficult times in our democracy, but I have spent my life both professionally and as a school leader listening, bringing people together and solving problems. My family taught me early on the value of hard work, serving others, and community. My mom is a role model for me when it comes to volunteer community service.
I have worked in the public health field for 30 years in a variety of roles – I was an HIV/AIDS educator when the disease was just becoming known, I championed early detection of breast cancer as part of my work in cancer research, and I successfully fought to keep big tobacco off school grounds. My most recent job was assisting COVID-impacted people with resources to address challenges like access to food, healthcare, and housing.
My husband, Jeff, and I have three kids who are products of a Colorado public education. They went on to attend Colorado State University and the University of Denver. I know firsthand what it means to engage parents and community members. As a parent, I served as president of my local Parent Teacher Organization and on the District Accountability Committee. As a district leader, I ensured a district budget of over $450 million operated with transparency and accountability.
As a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Association of School Boards and President of the Adams 12 Board of Education, I brought together people of various backgrounds to ensure all children – no matter their zip code, race, or income, receive an excellent education. We can make Colorado the national leader in public education. It takes all of us working together.
Kathy’s Priorities
The State Board of Education supervises academic standards and accreditation for all 1900+ public schools and the 900,000
students they serve.
Academic Excellence
Kathy will focus on making our schools a place where kids learn to think for themselves and make informed judgements. Kathy knows each child is unique and will promote learning models for individual success that can accommodate their economic or geographic circumstances.
She will ensure that our education system focuses on providing students with opportunities that meet their interests and needs while preparing them for the future.
She will ensure that there are pathways to prepare students for college, or to enter the workforce with a good-paying job straight out of high school. This means accommodating kids who have the odds stacked against them.
She will also make sure that our students have the mental health resources they need to be able to walk into their classrooms safely and ready to learn.
Kathy knows that education is the key to ensuring that Coloradans can get good jobs that allow them to afford a home, healthcare, and a good life. That means we need to hire the best teachers in the country for our children so they can compete in the global economy and become the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and business owners.
Respecting Teachers
Professional educators are leaving in droves. They are overworked, underpaid, and attacked by narrow partisan political groups. A lack of funding has resulted in Colorado teachers being among the lowest paid in the country, and nearly 40% of Colorado educators said they were planning to leave the profession in the near future.
Kathy believes teachers are parents’ partners in ensuring that their kids are learning and thriving. To elevate the teaching profession, we must pay professional educators what they’re worth and respect the work they do every day in the classroom. Teaching should be a viable path to a great life in our state. Kathy will also ensure that our teachers have access to professional development that keeps them up to date with the most modern research on how students learn. That’s how we get the best educators in the country in Colorado classrooms.
Transparency & Accountability
While her children attended public school, Kathy served on her District Accountability Committee, where she fought to bring accountability and transparency to the district budget and promote parents as partners in the education process. On the Board of Education, she championed community and parent engagement in district decisions and fought to ensure accountability and transparency in the district’s budget and operations.
Kathy believes in public communications about school achievement, goals, budget priorities, and statistics to ensure our schools perform as they should. We can and must do better to ensure that all of our students, regardless of their income, race, ethnicity, or zip code, are ready for their future.
