Denver’s mayor Mike Johnston is once again getting involved in the Denver Public Schools (DPS) school board election. Over the weekend, he endorsed Timiya Jackson, Alex Magaña, Mariana del Hierro, and Caron Blanke, the same four candidates backed by Denver Families Action and Ten Collective Impact, two organizations funded by billionaire donors tied to the national school privatization movement. Ironically, three of Johnston’s endorsed candidates — Magaña, del Hierro, and Blanke — are also endorsed by the Denver Republican Party. 

Johnston is no stranger to mixing politics into education issues. During his 2023 mayoral campaign, he labeled the DPS school board an “embarrassment.” After winning office, he criticized the Board and the Superintendent for firing a Denver principal who was a longtime friend. In the 2023 school board election, Johnston endorsed three candidates supported by Denver Families Action and Ten Collective Impact, appearing in many TV ads and helping them secure decisive wins.

Dark Money Networks Behind the Campaign

Denver Families Action and Ten Collective Impact are financed with dark money by billionaires who want to privatize the public education system. Denver Families Action is the political arm of Denver Families for Public Schools; together, the two groups have received over $7 million from City Fund, an organization started by billionaires John Arnold and Reed Hastings. Since 2017, City Fund also funneled more than $34 million to RootED, another local education reform group that merged with Denver Families for Public Schools last year.

Reed Hastings, who founded Netflix, has supported charter schools and voucher programs. In 2022, he gave $1.5 million to the pro-voucher Texas-based Educational Equity PAC. Hastings has argued that local school boards should be abolished, and teacher unions have heavily opposed his ideas. His City Fund co-founder, former Enron oil executive John Arnold, contributed over $1 million to Republican candidates in 2024 and millions to the national Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter school network.

Jenny Brundin at Denverite reported that Denver Families Action contributed $600,000 to the Better Leaders, Stronger Schools independent expenditure, funding ads and mailers for the same four candidates Johnson now backs. She noted, “City Fund has donated millions to urban school board races in support of ‘charter and charter-like schools.’“ As of October 28, that amount hit $895,000, which is coming close to the $950,000 record that Denver Families spent in the 2023 school board election.

Ten Collective Impact is using Colorado Families for Great Schools as its independent expenditure to spend $15,000 from the Colorado League of Charter Schools Action Fund and a $100,000 contribution from 50CAN Action, a national advocacy group pushing vouchers and “education savings accounts.” 50CAN action’s President, Derrell Bradford, is the registered agent for Colorado Families for Great Schools, and he is a vocal supporter of vouchers and charters.

Since 2007, 50CAN has received over $32 million from the Walton Family, the richest family in America, and one of the nation’s most powerful pro-charter and pro-voucher funders. 

Johnston’s Record of “Education Reform” and Ties to Corporate Philanthropy

Johnston’s latest endorsements align perfectly with his long-standing views on education reform. A former principal of a Gates Foundation–funded alternative school, he entered politics as a leading proponent of charter schools and test-based accountability. In 2010, as a state senator, Johnston authored Senate Bill 191, Colorado’s controversial teacher evaluation law, which tied teacher ratings to student test scores and allowed for the closure of schools that failed to meet performance metrics. Critics say SB-191 ushered in a new era of high-stakes testing and weakened teacher protections.

Johnston has also held deep ties to the national education reform infrastructure. When he ran for Governor in 2017, Johnston received $1 million from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who in 2021 announced plans to spend $750 million to expand charter schools. Johnston co-founded and still serves on the board of New Leaders for New Schools, an organization that trains principals to lead public and charter schools nationwide. One of New Leaders’ major partners was Aspire Public Charter Schools, a California charter network originally bankrolled by Reed Hastings.

Johnston was the President and CEO of Gary Community Ventures, whose founder, David Youngren, donated $15,000 this fall to the same slate of candidates Johnston supports. Jim Kelly, another director on the board at Gary Community Ventures, gave $10,000 to Johnson’s newly endorsed candidates, and he gave $75,000 to Johnston’s 2023 mayoral campaign. 

Johnston sits on the board of America Achieves, which in 2022 launched Accelerate, a multi-million-dollar tutoring company promoting tech-driven learning programs across the country, including in Colorado. 50CAN and other school privatization organizations are encouraging school districts to buy these programs to address learning “gaps.” Accelerate’s CEO, Kevin Huffman, is a former partner at City Fund. Both America Achieves and Accelerate have received more than $23 million from the Arnold and Walton foundations.

Public Backlash to Johnston’s policies

While Johnston seems determined to influence voter decision-making, his endorsements may not sway as many voters this time. Denver residents are increasingly critical of his leadership, citing concerns over a number of his policies: the Flock camera surveillance contract, high-cost development projects, cuts to essential city services, insufficient funding for parks and road maintenance, budget reductions for the Election Commission, and prioritizing police pay raises and budgets over other departments.

As voters learn more about Johnston’s close relationships with billionaire donors and the funders behind Denver Families Action and Ten Collective Impact, some are questioning where his loyalties truly lie. During his 2023 mayoral run, Johnston received half a million dollars from Michael Bloomberg and several other prominent education reform figures, signaling that his current endorsements are part of a broader ideological alignment, not just local politics. Some of the donors to his mayoral campaign, like multimillionaire Kent Thiry, former CEO of DaVita, also gave large donations to his endorsed candidates for the DPS school board in 2023, and may again this year.

The Choice for Voters: Education as a Public or Private Good

Teachers, parents, and members of many labor unions have endorsed candidates that Johnston did not endorse. Scott Esserman, Michelle Quattlebaum, and Jeremy Harris are running independently from the traditional teacher-union or pro-charter groups.

The teacher-union backed slate with Amy Klein Molk, DJ Torres, Monica Hunter, and Xochitl Gaytan says they support neighborhood schools and want to elevate the priorities of the people who work closest with students every day.

As Election Day approaches, the mayor’s latest endorsements raise important questions: Will voters again follow Johnston’s lead and elect candidates funded by billionaire-backed reform networks? Or will they push back against the privatization agenda shaping Denver’s public schools for over two decades?

Johnston’s record and his alliances make one thing clear: his vision for DPS reflects a market-driven model of education, not the democratic, community-based system that public school advocates continue to fight for every day.