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Right to School Choice: What Would Colorado's Amendment 80 Do?

Proponents say the measure maintains the status quo, but opponents fear it will lead to massive changes for public schools.
Image: Children sit at desks in a classroom, looking at an adult male teacher standing in front of a whiteboard.
Amendment 80 would enshrine the right to school choice in K-12 education in the Colorado Constitution. Kenny Eliason/Unsplash
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School choice is on Colorado's ballot this year. But what does that mean? And what could it change for the state's education system?

If approved by voters in November, Amendment 80 would enshrine the right to school choice for kindergarteners through twelfth graders in the state constitution, ensuring the ability to choose between public, private, charter, religious or home schools. The citizen-initiated measure petitioned onto the ballot and requires 55 percent of the vote to pass.

Coloradans have actually had the right to school choice for decades, thanks to a state law passed by the legislature in 1994. Proponents of Amendment 80 say this ballot measure would protect that existing right so that state lawmakers could not pass laws to restrict school choice in the future.

While advocates advertise the initiative as maintaining the status quo, opponents argue the ballot measure would open the floodgates for changes that will "devastate" the state's public school system.

“Amendment 80 is a deceptive and dangerous scheme backed by far-right political operatives who want to siphon taxpayer dollars away from our public schools and the families who depend on them, and steer those dollars towards private schools,” says Senate President Steve Fenberg. “It could result in deep cuts to our public education system, including teacher layoffs and potential school closures, especially for our rural schools."

Fenberg is one of 76 Democratic elected officials and candidates who announced their opposition to the measure on Wednesday, October 23. They fear enshrining the right to school choice in the state constitution would be a gateway toward using taxpayer dollars to fund private schools.

The issue of subsidizing private school tuition has been raised in Colorado before. Ballot measures aiming to create voucher programs and income tax credits for private school education failed in 1992 and 1998. More recently, Republican legislators in the Colorado General Assembly unsuccessfully introduced bills to create income tax credits for nonpublic education in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Critics call Amendment 80 a back-door attempt to advance private school voucher programs. But supporters say that is not the intention, adding that the measure is needed because school choice is "under siege" by state legislators.

“It’s not guaranteed that the school choice rights that parents and teachers strongly support will be in place forever, so we need to safeguard them in the state constitution,” says Kristi Burton Brown, vice president of Advance Colorado, the group behind the measure. “The bipartisan consensus supporting school choice for decades is under siege every year at the State Capitol, and this common-sense measure protects the basic rights that have benefited families across our state.”

The legislature considered various bills regarding alternative schools in 2024, including two failed initiatives seeking to expand the information included in annual charter school evaluations and make numerous changes to the Colorado Charter Schools Act, such as eliminating automatic waivers of certain state education laws for new charter schools.

But opponents raise concerns that the ballot measure will lead to lawsuits from families who cannot afford private schools, arguing that the state is violating their right to school choice by not subsidizing the tuition. They also predict it will cause legal challenges when private schools reject students or when school districts deny a school's charter application.

In addition, they've accused Amendment 80 proponents of deceiving voters in their campaign, including sending a mass text message falsely implying that the president of the Colorado Education Association supports the measure, when he is actually staunchly opposed to it.

“Proponents of Amendment 80 have been working to mislead voters since this campaign started, claiming this measure is about protecting school choice — which Colorado parents have had for thirty years — when it’s really about opening the door to creating a voucher system,” says CEA President Kevin Vick. “Now they are blatantly misrepresenting the position of myself and thousands of teachers across the state, who have been vocally opposing this damaging initiative."

Nearly forty groups have lined up to oppose the ballot measure, including the Colorado Education Association, Stand For Children, Colorado Association of School Executives, Colorado PTA, Colorado Association of School Boards, Colorado Rural School Alliance, Colorado Fiscal Institute, and school districts in Adams County, Aspen, Boulder, Greeley, Lamar, Otis, Pueblo, Steamboat Springs, Weld County and Wiggins.

The pro-Amendment 80 website does not list any groups or individuals backing the effort. The issue committee supporting the measure, School Choice for Every Child, hasn't reported any donations, according to campaign finance records.

The Colorado Democratic Party formally opposed Amendment 80. The Colorado Republican Party is neutral on the measure — making it one of only two statewide initiatives on which the party declined to take a stand.

Election Day is November 5; keep an eye on our Election topic page for all of our latest coverage.