Hi Kid: How Are the Chiefs Influencing Our Schools?

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT…
Who Are the Chiefs and Who Put Them in Charge?

One of the first things employees who have left Poudre School District say is, “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of Chiefs for Change, have you?  They have a lot of influence in the district.”  That made us wonder just who Chiefs for Change is and if our community should care about their tight relationship with our local school district.

What is Chiefs for Change?

Chiefs for Change is a multi-million dollar non-governmental organization which recruits, trains, and deploys “chiefs” to lead in K-12 public education institutions across the country.  The group started in 2015 after breaking off from Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education.  At the time, it was reported by the Washington Post that the Chiefs organization, “…has led to some criticism that the arrangement serves as a back door for major corporations to urge state officials to adopt policies that would enrich the companies (that invested in the organization).”  The newly independent Chiefs organization began with only four chiefs, but have since spread their network tentacle-like across the US with reps in most states at various levels of educational leadership from superintendents to Commissioners of Education.  Federal tax documents indicate the Chiefs organization’s mission is to build a community of educational leaders who are dedicated to the Chiefs for Change vision and will allow support from Chiefs for Change to advance their mission.  On a recent video posted by Chiefs for Change, members of their network stated that the Chiefs are “…working to create educational equity…And really that’s what Chiefs for Change is about.”

Local Connections

The Chiefs for Change network has spread throughout the Colorado educational community, particularly locally.

Colorado ‘chiefs’ include: