Xóchitl Gaytán, Tay Anderson take helm of Denver’s union-backed school board

Denver’s newest school board members were sworn in Tuesday and immediately elected to leadership roles, a move that marks the completion of a political “flip” that puts board members supported by the teachers union and critical of past reforms in unanimous control of the district.

Xóchitl “Sochi” Gaytán, a graduate of Denver schools and a parent from southwest Denver, was elected president of the board by secret ballot. Gaytán replaces former president Carrie Olson, who was first elected to the board in 2017 and won re-election to her board seat this month.

While Denver’s school board has long stated a commitment to improving education for the students of color who make up the majority of the district, the newly elected board members have explicitly called for the need to dismantle racist systems of oppression.

“We have work to do,” Gaytán said. “We know that the employees and the staff of all of Denver Public Schools are working within a racist system. And we board members are working within our own racist system, and so we have work to do there as well as we begin to dismantle some of those processes and procedures so that we begin to move forward as we set a stronger and better foundation for quality learning.”