Amendment 80 - Constitutional Right to School Choice

Summary

Initiative 138 creates a constitutional right to school choice and equal opportunity for K-12 children. The measure also creates the right for parents to direct the education of their children. Neighborhood and charter schools, private schools, home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education are included in the new constitutional definition of school choice.

A "yes" vote on Initiative 138 creates a constitutionally protected right to school choice for K-12 children and their parents, and specifies that school choice includes public, private, homeschool, and any future innovations in education.

A "no" vote on Initiative 138 maintains the current system of school choice in state law.

Arguments

"They're using the innocuous word of ‘choice' as a vehicle for what opens the door clearly for a voucher scheme. There's no other reason to include private schools in [the initiative] unless that is their ultimate intent... We're definitely concerned about the implications of this ballot measure. It has the potential to do tremendous damage to already fragile school funding, and we're also extremely worried about the lack of transparency built into this measure with public funds." - Kevin Vick, President of Colorado Education Association, in opposition to Amendment 80 (Learn more)

"...would provide essential protection against ongoing attacks on this fundamental principle and is a vital step in securing the ability of parents to make the best educational decisions for their children, regardless of future political pressures." - Rose Pugliese, CO House Minority Leader, in support of Amendment 80 (Learn more)

"The Colorado Constitution already guarantees a free public education and Colorado already has robust school choice laws that allow parents to choose from many public school options, or choose to educate their children in private or home schools. The measure may conflict with current law prohibiting public funding for private education and will require interpretation by the courts. Ultimately, this could result in redirecting funding from public schools to private and home schools." - CO Legislative Hearings Comments, in opposition to Amendment 80 (Learn more)

"We've had broad bipartisan support of school choice for decades here, but I feel like that might not be the case in the future. We've seen legislation this year going after charter schools. I think that will continue in the future from some legislators. This is strictly locking in what we already have in place. I just think that parents should be in charge of education. I think it's easier when they have resources to send their kid to the school that they want to. I believe that there's good fits for kids in all different types of education. I just think that the options should be available for everybody." - Michael Fields, President at Advance Colorado Action, in support of Amendment 80 (Learn more)

Measure Details