A state senator in the state of Colorado only makes $30,000 a year. Those who take the burdens of being in the Capitol do it for more than the meager compensation. Some, use this as a springboard to get to the U.S. Senate. Others become state senators to help their community in times of need. One of those senators is Senator Ken Johnston representing the 33^rd Senate District.

Senator Johnston’s career was always focused on education.

“I have spent most of my life working in high schools,” Senator Johnston said. Graduated from Yale with a philosophy major, he then went down to Mississippi to teach at a local high school. There, he gained his passion towards education where he went to Harvard for his graduate degree in education. He then came back to Colorado where he became a founder of the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts where every senior attended college, the first in Colorado history for public schools.

Senator Johnston was involved in politics before as he co-wrote President Obama’s platform on education back in 2008. However, it wasn’t until one event that he decided to run for state senate. One day he was going through the halls where he saw one of his students he knew since he was a freshman comes down weeping. He told Johnston that he was undocumented and on that day, the bill which would allow undocumented immigrants to go to state colleges paying in-state tuition died.

“That moment, it was like I just saw him fall through a giant hole in the floor and there was nothing we can do. There was nothing else our teachers could have done for him. He was absolutely prepared but without someone changing the state law… he was never going to make it. That day, I decided to run for the State senate,” Senator Johnston said. Since then, Senator Johnston has worked hard to have students like him get the education they deserved.

Senator Johnston is very aware of the problems facing Colorado’s education. Colorado is facing a lack of funding for schools as well as an achievement gap based on race. One great disparity is on ACT scores which are at a 21.6 for whites and a 17.0 for Latinos for Colorado, a disparity that Senator Johnston tries to close.

Senator Johnston said, “The amazing thing is that if you look at that data now and you said if you were a ten year old Latino or African American kid, what will be the single worst state in America if you have one single goal which is graduating from college. The worst state is not Mississippi; it’s not Alabama; it’s not Tennessee; it’s not Georgia; it’s Colorado. Colorado has the single largest college achievement gap than in any state of the country.” One of those solutions was the Read Act which was to find students that are struggling in early literacy and to intervene to bring them up to speed.

“One of the most significant indicators of success is making sure a child can read by third grade,” Senator Johnston said.

He is also proposing to change the way Colorado funds schools which currently funds by how many students are in school in October 1^st.

In his proposal, Senator Johnston said, “What we want to do is to say, ‘We think every student counts every day.’” His proposal would have financial incentives for students in school for the entire school year.

Senator Johnston’s political career has met difficulties as not all of his proposals met popular approval. He was the main sponsor of Amendment 66, an amendment that would have increased taxes to fund education which would have been the largest investment in K-12 in recent history.

The vote failed, “just slightly less than when the Broncos lost the Super Bowl,” Senator Johnston said. However, his biggest success could be seen by having the governor sign the DREAM Act. Colorado, among 14 other states, now offers in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

“I got to call Ulysses back and tell him to quit his job at Subway; it’s time to apply for college again,” Senator Johnston said. Senator Johnston is proof that some politicians are not in the field for money but are in it for helping their citizens. While Senator Johnston is term limited from running again, he is definitely proud of the impact he has made in Colorado.