Veteran Colorado Teacher Opts Out Unions, Champions Educator Choice
By Jordan Jantz | IW Features
When she started taking education courses in college, Jill Cullis thought teaching was just her backup career plan. She never imagined she’d be an educator, let alone spend more than three decades working in Colorado’s public schools, teaching students while helping colleagues find freedom from the teachers union. And she never imagined her workplace would become so politically hostile that she would be forced to retire.
“I remember my mom saying, I just kind of came alive when I would talk about teaching,” Cullis told IW Features. “It was sort of a plan B, but in reality, it was God’s plan A for me.”
Cullis was raised in a conservative household, and in high school, she read Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose, which cemented the freedom-focused values ...

![FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B[1]](https://rockymountainvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FD863768-0ACF-495E-9D21-2EF784DFFA6B1-300x300.png)