ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. -- Jill Cullis has been an educator for 31 years. She has spent many of those years in Arapahoe County where she teaches now, and decided to stay in class while many of her colleagues marched outside the state capitol on April 27.
"I very much respected my colleagues who chose to walk out that day," Cullis told Denver7. "They very much respected me, too."
Cullis wants people to see another perspective. She just recently wrote an op-ed with what she thinks needs to be done to improve public education.
"I feel like another side of the story needed to be told," she said. "Not every single teacher chose to walk out."
Cullis doesn't necessarily believe simply pouring more money into the system will help solve anything. She says it's about using the money there already is and dispersing it in a smarter way.
"It doesn't filter down into the classroom," she said. "It gets stuck at the ad building or at the general administration. I'm talking about the central administration. It doesn't get to the classroom where it's desperately needed."
Cullis wants the money to go to helping shrink class sizes, providing state-of-the-art technology and yes, helping with teacher raises.
"I think politics gets in the way. Republicans want their way. The Democrats want their way. Where is the common ground?"