Michael Johnston (Colorado legislator)

Michael Johnston
Member of the Colorado Senate from the 33rd district
Taking office May 29, 2009[1][2]
Succeeding	Peter Groff
Personal details
Born	c. 1975[3]
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Educator, Principal

Michael Johnston (born c. 1975) is a legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Johnston, a high school principal, was appointed to the Colorado State Senate in May 2009 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Senate President Peter Groff.

Biography

Born and raised in Vail, Colorado,^[4] Johnston is the son of former Vail mayor Paul Johnston.^[5] He attended kindergarten through 12th grade at Vail Mountain School,^[4] graduating in 1993.^[5] and then attended Yale University, earning his bachelor's degree in philosophy^[4] in 1997.^[5] Throughout high school and college, Johnston was engaged in community service activities, including volunteering at a Denver homeless shelter and mentoring youth in a New Haven housing project.^[4]

After graduating from college, Johnston taught at a rural high school in Greenville, Mississippi for two years as part of the Teach for America program; he wrote the book In the Deep Heart’s Core about his experiences. He then earned a master's degree in education policy from Harvard University. While at Harvard, Johnston worked with Al Gore education advisor John Schnur; with Schnur and others, he helped found New Leaders for New Schools, an organization dedicated to training and recruiting leaders for urban schools.^[4]

After graduating from Harvard, Johnston went on to earn a law degree from Yale,^[5] and began advising political candidates on education policy, including Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Tom Strickland in 2002.^[4]

Returning to Colorado in 2003, Johnston was hired by the Joan Farley Academy, and then Johnston helped found MESA: Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts, a public school in Thornton, Colorado, in 2005.^[6] As the school's principal, he helped develop the school's curriculum and program as the school district shifted to developing smaller schools;^[4][7] he also oversaw improvements in the school's performance, including improving the senior class's college acceptance rates from 50% to 100% over three years. During his presidential candidacy, Sen. Obama visited the school in May 2008,^[8] where he delivered a major address on education;^[4] the school's and Johnston's achievements were also highlighted in an October 2008 campaign advertisement.^[8]

Following Hurricane Katrina, Johnston helped lead an education summit in New Orleans and worked with U.S. Rep. George Miller on legislation to recruit and retain teachers.^[4] Johnston joined the campaign of U.S. Senator Barack Obama as an informal advisor early in 2007,^[5] and, by May 2008, he was regarded as one of Obama's key advisors on education issues.^[7][9]

Johnston, his wife, Courtney,^[4] and their two children live in the Stapleton neighborhood of Denver.^[8]

Legislative career

2009 appointment

Senate President Peter Groff announced his resignation from the legislature in April 2008, effective the end of the 2009 legislative session, in order to accept an appointment in the Obama administration's Department of Education.^[8]

Johnston announced his candidacy for the seat in late April, facing former Rep. Rosemary Marshall, Democratic National Committee member Anthony Graves and activist Renee Blanchard for the historically African-American legislative seat;^[6] the district, spans northeastern Denver, Colorado.,^[10] is roughly one-third white, one-third Latino, and one-third African-American.^[3] Johnston cited education as the central motivation for his run, including the failure of a bill during the 2008 session granting instate tuition to undocumented immigrants.^[6] During his campaign for the legislative appointment, Johnston met personally with almost all members of the vacancy committee.^[11]

At the May 11 vacancy committee meeting, Johnston received 63 out of 126 votes on the first round of balloting to win the vacancy committee appointment.^[8] Johnston was sworn in to office on May 29, 2009;^[2] his appointment extends through the 2010 legislative session and he will be eligible for re-election in November 2010 for the remaining two years of Groff's Senate term.^[3]

External links

• Colorado State Senate Democratic Majority
• Personal Website

References

1. ^ "Senate Journal - January 13, 2010" (pdf). Colorado General Assembly. http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2010A/csljournals.nsf/(jousen)/82B2E43E2B194EEF872576A200590CB8/$FILE/jour_001.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_12478223?source=rss. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=4208
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Centers, Jessica (26 August 2008). "Barack Obama gives principal Michael Johnston extra credit". Westword. http://www.westword.com/2008-08-28/news/barack-obama-gives-principal-michael-johnston-extra-credit/. Retrieved 2008-08-26. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://coloradoindependent.com/3656/denver-principal-among-obamas-top-education-advisers
6. ^ ^{a b c} http://coloradoindependent.com/27170/obama-education-advisor-johnston-joins-race-for-groffs-senate-seat
7. ^ ^{a b} Terrell, Matt (29 October 2008). "Vail native changing education on the campaign trail". The Vail Daily. http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20081029/NEWS/810299908/1001&parentprofile=1062&title=Vail%20native%20changing%20education%20on%20the%20campaign%20trail. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://coloradoindependent.com/28710/vacancy-group-picks-obama-education-advisor-johnston-to-replace-groff
9. ^ http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/05/08/whom-the-candidates-listen-to-on-education.html
10. ^ "State Senate District 33". COMaps. http://comaps.org/district33s.html. Retrieved 2007-11-12. 
11. ^ Simons, Janet (15 May 2009). "Johnston channels Obama in SD 33". The Colorado Statesman. http://www.coloradostatesman.com/content/991022-johnston-channels-obama-sd-33. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 

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Name	Johnston, Michael
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