Practical leadership for strong public schools
Barb’s priorities come directly from more than forty years working inside public education.
What does Practical Leadership Mean?
Barb believes Colorado can pair responsible stewardship with meaningful opportunity, but only if state leaders are transparent about results, protect the integrity of public funding, and listen to communities across the full range of our state.
Here’s what Barb will prioritize:
One district. Many communities.
A representative who will show up.
CD3 is Colorado’s largest and one of its most diverse congressional districts. Its 27 counties include 58 school districts, with communities that range from growing Western Slope cities to mountain towns, agricultural regions, and rural school systems serving students across long distances.
Leadership built for a large district
Barb understands that a statewide rule can affect a small rural district very differently than a large urban system. She will bring that practical perspective to the State Board and make sure local voices are part of the conversation before decisions are made.
Her record shows how she will serve. Barb traveled the state as an NEA board member, led CASB reforms that gave rural and urban districts an equal seat at the table, and earned the trust of peers at every level of education leadership. She is ready to be visible, approachable, and responsive throughout CD3.
From La Junta to Grand Junction, from Alamosa to Durango, and from Pueblo to communities across the Western Slope, Barb will listen, learn, and lead for every part of CD3.
Barb’s Priorities for Colorado
Barb’s priorities come directly from more than forty years working inside public education.
Priority 1: Transparency and Accountability
Our tax dollars deserve transparency.
Every public dollar should be easy to follow and connected to results people can understand.
Public education represents one of Colorado’s most important investments. Every entity receiving public funds should be able to show taxpayers, families, and educators what those dollars are doing. That reporting should be clear, itemized, and written in plain language, not buried in documents only specialists can decipher.
Barb supports accountability that goes beyond a single high-stakes test. Too often, test results reflect a student’s ZIP code, economic circumstances, and access to support as much as learning. Colorado spends roughly $100 million each year on high-stakes testing while receiving limited insight into the full picture of student growth.
Barb has already shown that she is willing to follow the money. Her work examining ER BOCES exposed how the system could operate as a pass-through for public dollars flowing disproportionately to religious schools. That experience strengthened her commitment to statewide transparency and meaningful oversight.
Barb Will Fight For:
Priority 2: Funding Integrity
Public education dollars belong to public schools.
Colorado families invest in public education with the expectation that those dollars will support public students and public schools.
Barb is committed to closing loopholes that allow public funds to be diverted to private or religious institutions, or used in ways that do not match their intended purpose.
Colorado’s flexible rules for homeschooling, enrichment programs, charter schools, and contract schools have produced opportunities for some students. They have also created openings that bad actors can exploit for personal profit or to advance religious agendas with public money. Barb supports clear guardrails, careful oversight, and coordinated action by the State Board of Education, the Colorado Department of Education, and the legislature.
Funding integrity also means ensuring that every district has stable, adequate resources. Students should not receive fewer opportunities because their community has a smaller tax base, and districts should be able to fairly compensate and retain the educators who serve them.
“You cannot use the parks budget to redo your backyard, the police budget for private security, or the highway budget to pave your driveway. Public dollars belong to their public purpose.”
Barb Clementi, Democrat for Colorado State Board of Education, CD 3Barb Will Fight For:
Priority 3: Equity of Access and Belonging
Opportunity shouldn’t depend on a ZIP code.
Every Colorado student deserves a strong foundational education and a clear path toward the future they want. That includes access to rigorous academics, career and technical education, and the support needed to learn, whether a student lives in a city, a small town, or a rural community.
Barb also believes every student should feel safe and seen when they walk through the schoolhouse door. Schools need a broad approach to safety that includes mental health support, community partnerships, wraparound services, and reflective systems of discipline and justice. Schools cannot be all things to all people, but educators must have the resources to respond to the housing, food, family, and income insecurity that students bring into classrooms.
Families deserve strong neighborhood schools and meaningful choices. Charter schools fill a role in Colorado, but choice is only real when every community also has a well-funded, high-quality neighborhood public school. Barb will work to make every school as strong as it can be for every student.
Barb’s record reflects this commitment. She led survey-driven work to rebuild Pueblo schools with safety, belonging, and student confidence in mind. At CASB, she helped ensure rural and urban districts had an equal voice. Throughout her statewide service, she listened directly to educators and communities with different needs and different challenges.
Barb Will Fight For:
Priority 4:Present, Responsive Leadership
A leader for all of CD3 (Who shows up).
CD3 needs a representative who shows up, listens, and remains accessible across the entire district.
Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District spans 27 counties and includes 58 school districts, roughly 30 percent of all school districts in the state. Representing a district this large and diverse requires more than attending meetings. It requires consistent visibility, direct relationships, and a willingness to travel.
Barb has spent years doing exactly that. As a member of the NEA Board of Directors, she traveled Colorado to hear from educators and communities. She knows the issues facing places such as La Junta, Walsenburg, Trinidad, Alamosa, Creede, San Luis, Monte Vista, Saguache, Del Norte, Durango, Montrose, Grand Junction, and Ridgway.
Barb is also a proven facilitator. Her peers have repeatedly elected her to leadership because she can guide complex groups through policy, governance, and organizational change. She listens carefully, builds consensus, and keeps people moving toward a shared goal.
Barb’s Commitment:
