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As president, George W Bush was hardly known for his "great passion about educational excellence." Is that why he and a collection of conservative groups—including representatives of the oil and gas industry—are flooding a local Denver school board election with massive amounts of campaign cash, as John Nichols outlined in a recent analysis of the controversial race?

On The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Denver school board candidate Emily Sirota argues that special interest groups are taking advantage of loopholes in Colorado election law to fund her opponent, and stack the Denver school board with pro-voucher, pro-privatization candidates. You can read more of John’s coverage of the Denver school board campaign here.

—Teresa Cotsirilos