Currently, and for the past 30 years, parents in Colorado have the choice of where their children go to school. The Public Schools of Choice law allows students to apply to public schools outside of their districts, so parents can choose what school works best for their children, even if that’s in a different district in which they reside. This includes public and charter schools of any district, and it’s included with your taxes. However, citizen tax dollars do not pay for private or religious-based schools, so parents must pay out-of-pocket if they choose to do that.

The goal of Amendment 80 is to change the definition of school choice and place it in the Colorado Constitution to include private schools. Voting “yes” for this cause will lead to funding private and religious-based schools with public taxes. The public school system already suffers from funding. If you vote “yes” to Amendment 80, you would only take away money from schools that already lack it.

The current law for education freedom in Colorado is supported by both parties. So why is it that this law is being challenged? What does this mean? It means two things: that the advocators, Advance Colorado, are for this change because they want all students to have access to all kinds of education (for free), and they want private and religious schools to be funded by tax dollars. There is some language being thrown around by supporters like, “lock in our rights” (Fields, qtd. in The Colorado Sun) from Michael Fields, the president of Advanced Colorado Action and initiator of the cause, which implies that there is a threat to school choice. This is confusing language since, for the past 30 years, the current system has been working just fine.

Kevin Welner, professor at the School of Education at CU Boulder and director of the National Education Policy Center states, “I’m skeptical that this is really the reason behind the ballot initiative. It’s hard to imagine a circumstance where any of the school choice options would be eliminated in the state” (Welner, qtd in Strain).

A 2024 study by National School Choice Awareness shows that 51% of parents who considered new schools also researched their local public schools (National School Choice Awareness, 2024). This shows that parents are still interested in public schools and that those public schools still need all of the funding they receive.

Education should be equal. It is understandable that, as a state, we want what is best for our children. As a parent myself, it would be great to be able to afford a private school education for my children, but not if it is at the expense of my neighbors’ education. No one is proposing raising taxes for this amendment, so no additional resources are coming into play. Private schools are already wealthy; they don’t need more money from the state, which is what they’re asking for.

Charter schools may be an exception (they are considered public schools that have an enrollment process and are not covered by the state) as they typically offer more personalized and expanded curriculum. You can see the allure of the movement for parents who want to have more access to charter schools since voting yes would lead to more availability in those kinds of schools.

Unfortunately, since private and religious schools are included in this movement, there isn’t room for charter school improvement here. It is not worth voting “yes” for this amendment for charter school benefit alone.

According to the Colorado Bluebook, there would be no immediate fiscal impact. However, this will inevitably lead to school voucher programs, where public taxes will be used for students to attend private schools for free. This will cause financial strain for public schools and most likely lead to raising taxes to fund the vouchers, which has been turned down by Colorado legislation in 2003. Welner adds, “We see these universal programs blowing a hole in state budgets.” It’s also a bit suspect that the head support of this movement, Advance Colorado, does not report any funding or spending, nor do they disclose their donors (Breunlin, 10/9/2024).

This also may open the door for litigation, where education forms are more manageable by parents. Welner uses a great example of a possible lawsuit where a parent can object to a lesson or subject teaching something the parent doesn’t want their kid to be taught. It will open the door for parents to micromanage what their kids are taught. In addition, if governed taxes are paying for religious-based schools, so some could argue a separation of church and state should come into play.

A likely theoretical scenario would be sending your child to Christian Valor High School. The education is excellent, but it costs a lot of money out of pocket to attend there. Let’s say the law passes, and the state now says your child can attend as they would a public school. The problem now arises that non-Christians want the quality education they offer but don’t want their kids to attend the required religious classes. There’s a risk that this Amendment will trigger problems with parents, the schools, and the boundaries between church and state.

When you arrive at Amendment 80, vote “No.” There needs to be more regulation regarding charter schools, but this is not the opportunity for that. With bipartisan support, as well as opposition from public school teachers, it’s clear that this amendment will only take money away from schools that need it by giving it to schools that already have it. This is your chance to make sure public funding stays where it should, with the students who are attending public schools.

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Works Cited

Breunlin, Erica. “Amendment 80: Placing a right to school choice in Colorado’s Constitution,” The Colorado Sun, 10/9/2024 https://coloradosun.com/2024/10/09/amendment-80-colorado-explained-school-choice/

“New Year, New Schools” National School Choice Awareness Foundation. Jan 2024. https://schoolchoiceweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/nscaf_2024_parentsurvey_finalx.pdf

Strain, Daniel. “What is Colorado’s ‘school choice’ amendment 80 all about?” CU Boulder today. 10/16/2024 https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/10/16/what-colorados-school-choice-amendment-80-all-about-legal-expert-weighs