Today's focus is on Colorado's Democrat Governor, Jared Polis.

Welcome to Old School, New School, Next School with Dom Giordano, a podcast devoted to preserving your parental rights, including the right to choose the best school for your child. This podcast is dedicated to gaining the option of school choice for every parent in America.

Here's your host, educator and noted talk media commentator, Dom Giordano.

Hey, everyone. Welcome into this week's edition of Old School, New School, Next School.

We are making tremendous progress, as you know, if you follow us each week with Americans wanting to sign off on school choice.

And one of the reasons for this, we now have 27 governors who will take the new money from the big, beautiful bill nationally and say they are going to take that money to help their kids and parents and ensure school choice. The one Democrat, and this Democrat is very liberal, but he is a thoughtful guy, and he is someone who really has upset the dynamic here. Oh, it's just a bunch of conservatives who want that money.

Governor Polis, Jared Polis of Colorado, is the guy. And he gave all kinds of reasons why he is doing this as a governor of a state that is pretty solidly blue. I wouldn't say it's completely. It's not New York or Illinois, but it's more than purple. So I set out to get somebody that can give insight to this guy Polis, what's going on in Colorado, and how we capitalize on this to make the point of the state.

If a guy like this will do it, then why in the world would Governor Shapiro in my state not do it? I was on the Kim Munson show, independent broadcaster in Denver, Colorado, with her finger on the pulse of what drives that state, drives this governor, and how this is being received in Colorado, meaning is it politically viable for a Democrat to do it? So I'm happy to welcome in Kim Munson. You are my expert today. I have a lot of

of the governor polis and the first democrat who signed off on school choice we're up to 27 as we speak at this moment governors under the big beautiful bill signing off on this but first your show to me i couldn't pigeonhole you too easily when i was on and that's always good maybe slightly libertarian uh on things when do you broadcast what's your background and do you have a sense of um are you

How would you label yourself at all? Well, very interesting. I am just starting my eighth year of solo broadcasting, and I'm an independent broadcaster on an independent station. So what that means is I buy my airtime, and I have total freedom regarding guests and subject matter. And so we brought – we focus on the important issues. We talk about news politics and opinion.

But I'll also do human interest stories as well, because I think it's important that we get a little bigger than the headlines all the time as well. But we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom, which would probably put me in somewhat that libertarian description. And so that's what we do. And there's plenty to talk about, Dom.

The Station, and you are in Denver? Is that where you broadcast out of? I broadcast out of the Denver Market on KLZ 560 AM platform. So that's KLZ 560 AM, 100.7 FM, as well as the KLZ app website. And then the shows can be found as a podcast on Spotify, iTunes, and all the streaming services. Yeah, there is a lot to talk about with you. And I'm intrigued by the governor. I've never had him on, but I've heard him a good bit.

I'm intrigued by Colorado, which is not a swing state, but I'll let you decide here.

He seems to me to be an interesting guy.

So this decision does not seem to me to be out of kilter because it's common sense on the school choice issue to take what is new money.

There's no such thing as free money through the federal government setting up in 2026.

He's the only Democrat.

So your estimation of the governor, why would he do this as the only Democrat? And is there any political fallout in a place like Colorado for him? That's a really interesting question. And Colorado, the Colorado State Legislature is really to the radical activist left. And on many issues, Governor Polis is there as well. But when we were arranging for this interview, I reached out to several experts that I know.

And one of them knows Governor Polis well. And she said that he has always been a friend of school choice and that he has actually started some charter schools. And I was a bit surprised on that as well, Dom, because I watch all of these different issues. And so I was trying to figure this out. So I love that. I think that's fantastic. And he has said yes, that he will support.

this school choice or this program. However, he can opt Colorado in, and the next governor, this will not begin until the next governor is in office because Governor Polis is term limited. So even though he says that Colorado would opt in, depending on who the next governor is, that's not cast in stone because they could change that decision.

Uh-huh. Okay. Again, but charter schools, too. That's why I think he's much farther left than I like, but it seems to me he's a relatively thoughtful guy here. He's not knee-jerk if he's interested in charter schools. He might actually be interested in what your show is about and hopefully mine. You mentioned freedom versus force. Well, one of the biggest forces in the world to me, and I'm a former teacher, as you know, is the public school monopoly.

And then the teachers unions that support that, and I'm all for the individual teacher, but the teachers unions constantly during COVID, post-COVID, et cetera, show their power, particularly at the national level. So what is the reaction to this with Polis, though? Is it with Colorado, would it be so far out of bounds? I only know about marijuana in Colorado. I've been there a few times. I know about the health. You guys are healthier than anybody in America. You're always running.

or doing something. I'm in Philadelphia where we're in jogging suits, but we don't jog.

That's a step in the right direction, though.

Yeah, well, they're like mafia jogging suits. It's that kind of thing. I could say it.

It's complicated out here in Colorado. In many ways, we are at the tip of the spear. So this is good that Governor Polis is saying that he will opt Colorado into this program,

Although the details still are not determined. But when we look at curriculum that is being pushed upon our schools, even in some ways to homeschooling, I think that that's a place that I've got real concerns, Dom. And so it's great to have all these different schools, but then if you have the teachers union and them really influencing curriculum and then trying to push that curriculum,

on all schools, that could be a real sticky wicket, if you will.

Well, to that point, one of my sons was homeschooled, although he went to a school for homeschoolers to have a little bit of a base.

So this is part of school choice. It's not just charters and vouchers.

Where I am, I broadcast into New Jersey and the homeschooling movement, they want to crush it.

Colorado would seem to be more open to it, but no.

Yes, it is more open to it, but we have to be very careful with, I would say, mission creep into the homeschooling arena and the charter school arena with curriculum. And when you have a forced curriculum, that can become a real problem. So I think that might be the spot that we have to be really concerned about.

And Governor Polis, if you look at this from a political standpoint, is that he could say, I'm going to opt Colorado in. And then if Colorado, the next governor, takes us out, Polis looks like he favors school choice, but yet we might not be in the program. So from a political standpoint, Tom, I think I'm getting very cynical as I'm getting older.

So I apologize for that. That's okay. No, I didn't know that wrinkle. But still, I see it is even more inspirational here toward the governor a bit in that he's willing to roll the dice and put it in here. He could just stay silent, go his way, and the next governor take over because this is being billed. And I'm one of the people billing it. And Corey DeAngelis, who's the top school choice guy, we got one Democrat here. What are the other Democrats going to do? So it has a lot of potency.

because out of 27, it's 26 Republicans so far in this. So let me ask him, when this issue comes up, as you have me on School Choice or schools in general, I get a sense you're concerned about the curriculum, the indoctrination. That's kind of the mission of your show that you've stated already. How do people feel about it? There's widespread polling that indicates most states that I look at it's popular, but there is not the finishing kick.

and do we have it now to actually push this over the line? That's the problem. So the question then is this program or school choice? Do your listeners seem to support it? And what do you say? What kind of calls do you get? What's the vibe around it? I would say yes, Colorado really does. Coloradans really do support school choice.

And the pushback comes from what you're probably used to as well.

And that is the teachers unions and the big voice that they have and the big voice that they have in influence down at the Capitol.

But as far as everyday Coloradans, I think, yes, they definitely want choice in education.

Kim, part of the subtext of this school, old school, new school, next school, is to make America smart again, to use the phrase that we use. It's kind of fun. What do you see when people call in when you talk about these topics? What is it that they think are some of the things obviously that have gone wrong, not just with the indoctrination, but I think post-COVID, all the money that was spent, the results, where we are? I'm asking, I guess,

How are Coloradans seeing their schools? And what do they see? For example, phones in schools is one of the things we've been centering on.

I know that there is some questions about phone in schools, and I think that there may be some school districts that are doing something about that.

My concern is that many, many children at third grade in Colorado and some of the best school districts cannot read and write and do arithmetic at grade level. And if you cannot read and write, well, if you cannot read by the third grade proficiently, that can affect your success for life.

And I think a lot of taxpayers don't realize they care deeply about children. They want to educate, you know, want to support educating our children. But where is all the money going? And when I look many times at what we are paying for per pupil to educate them, I look at it and we are not getting our money's worth, Dom.

Do you have a ballpark? How much? Because I'll tell you in Pennsylvania, it's around 23,000 on average. Goodness. Oh, my. I, you know what, I think it's maybe in that 10,000 range. Oh, boy. Well, look, you may have some ignorance there, but ours is higher cost ignorance of what we're doing. So, Kim, you know, may not be quite as bad.

It's a fascinating state to me, though. COVID, I wanted to ask you about. I don't know if you said eight years ago, so I guess you were broadcasting. Yeah, you were broadcasting during this. Host that, not just with schools. Your show would be a prime example. I think it radicalized a lot of people that listened to us. They were willing to give grace for a month or two, keep kids out of school, the things that happened with work. But then after that, it became pretty obvious. We know that some of the teachers' unions,

were driving this, some of the petty tyrannies. Was Paul was in office then? And how did he respond to COVID? Light touch, heavy touch?

Yes, he was in office. I would say heavy touch. Okay. And there were many school districts that were very heavy touch. And I remember talking with parents that, first of all, this was one of the first times that they saw what was going on.

was happening in the classroom because the kids were in school remotely. And that has really has woken a lot of people up. And in fact, there's been an exodus of kids from public schools in Colorado into charter schools and homeschooling. And I remember talking, you're making me jog my memory, with parents of kids in elementary school talking about their children and how they were struggling.

And as you look back at that, it was kind of cruel what was happening to our kids. I remember there was a lot of masking, even in preschool. And we know how important it is to see facial expressions for young kids. And so it was pretty heavy handed out here.

Well, Kim, thank you. Thanks for being so generous with this and giving us insight. Is Paul is someone who might be, he's not in a swing state per se, but a VP candidate. What does he do next? Because this really intrigued me more. I knew about how far left he was, but that even intrigues me more that he gets it, that this is a no-brainer here. You're getting new money to do this.

You really have to be just wedded to something. I don't want to use the words evil, but you're just in a bubble that you don't get this. This is lifesaving for a lot of these poor kids and their parents. So what does he do next? There's a lot of thought on that. There had been rumors that he might want to run for president.

There have been rumors that he might want to be in a cabinet position if a Democrat is successful. And then Senator Michael Bennett, U.S. Senator Michael Bennett, is running for governor. And we have term limits in Colorado. And Polis is term limited. So there's those that think if, and it's highly competitive, it's actually a Democrat primary that's highly competitive between senators and senators.

and Attorney General Phil Weiser. There are those that think that if Bennett would be successful in the governor's race, that he would resign his U.S. Senate seat and appoint Polis. I don't know if that's possible for sure, but that's some of the word on the street.

Well, I would say this, you know, I'm hoping we find a Democrat that gets it. He can be far left, as you said, on any number of these things.

I think there's a lane there, an appeal though, that might separate on this issue of kids, schools, etc. In other words, it might take him into the lane of really being someone who gets better known by talking about schools. So I'm really going to be watching to see that. Kim, I really enjoyed it and I hope that we speak many times. Where do we go to find you? We talked about the station online, etc. Where do we go follow you on Twitter, etc.?

Okay, my website is Kim Munson. That's M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. And I'm not extremely active on X at this particular point in time, but we are changing that. So stay tuned because we've got a lot of big things happening at the Kim Munson Show, and that's Kim Munson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com. So thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you for joining us. All right, that is Kim Munson. We gave you a pretty good barometer of what's happening with school choice at this point.

The best good news that I can give you is this. Governor Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, very solidly progressive state, up and down the line, Chicago, Pritzker, he's running for president. He has not ruled out yet. In fact, reading the tea leaves, there's a sense that he is more leaning towards school choice than not, and taking the money, this new money, in the big, beautiful bill for school choice.

If Governor Pritzker does that, they really will brand him as a different sort of Democrat.

I think help separate him from some of the others.

Now, he hasn't done it yet, but the fact we have some states like New Mexico and three or four others who have said, no way, we're not doing this no matter what, that he's not ruling it out, indicates that this is a big time decision.

This is very good for the citizens in that state, the bad schools of Chicago, public schools, but also indicates a political pull of this. Polis did it. He might be running for president. How about Pritzker? To be continued on that note, I wouldn't bet the House, but I see a slight advantage here. He might go forward and do this. It would really differentiate him. We'll see in coming weeks. Again, if you'd like to send me an email about anything, go to domshow at aol.com.

D-O-M-S-H-O-W at AOL.com.

Thanks for listening to this week's hopeful edition of Old School, New School, Next School.

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