School choice is the cornerstone of a successful education system. Students learn differently and having multiple school options ensures all students can reach their full potential.
Colorado proudly has had bipartisan leadership committed to giving families quality educational options. According to the State Department of Education, last year 38% of public school students attended a school of choice — whether a charter school, magnet school or a different district-run school that is not their assigned neighborhood school.
This choice has allowed Colorado’s students to thrive — in STEM high schools, in microschools where middle school students apply math and science by running a coffee shop, or in dual language elementary schools teaching young children to be fluent in English and Spanish, Mandarin or French. Innovative models have exploded over the past three decades because of Colorado’s openness to school choice; and in the wake of the pandemic, more parents are demanding these unique, personalized, engaging options for their children.
But we need to protect the right to school choice.
Our popular system of choice is under constant attack by anti-choice local school boards, the state legislature and even the State Board of Education. Voting to put the right to school choice in the Colorado Constitution will ensure that families can continue to choose the best educational environment for their children without having to worry about politicians with ideological agendas taking that option away.
If you think the need for such a constitutional right is overblown, if you think that our state has sufficient statutory rights in place, consider what has happened in just the past year. Democratic state Reps. Tammy Story and Lorena Garcia introduced House Bill 1363, which would have rapidly dismantled Colorado’s charter school sector by giving local boards sweeping authority to close charter schools without cause.
It’s part of a trend of attacks on school choice that is particularly concerning given the reality that Gov. Jared Polis is nearing the end of his term. The governor has been a staunch defender of public school choice, founding a charter school network before running for office, and he acts as a backstop against harmful legislation. But he won’t be in office much longer.
Colorado has been fortunate to have Democrats and Republicans in the legislature who understand the incredible value schools of choice bring to their communities and have been willing to stand together to kill anti-school choice bills. But it’s a risky position to take given the immense power and money the teachers union brings to politics. And the teachers union is no friend to school choice.
We simply cannot rely on the status quo to permanently protect school choice. There is no guarantee that the next governor will have the same commitment to Coloradans’ school choice rights, and at any point there could be an anti-school choice majority at our state legislature.
The politics at the State Board of Education are not any better. Look what happened this fall to Liberty Common School, a top performing charter founded over 25 years ago. Liberty Common had the highest SAT average in Colorado this year, yet that did not stop the state board from having the hubris to tell the school they could no longer have the autonomy to implement their evidently successful college and career advising program. The state board voted 5-3 to strip such flexibility, known as waivers, from the school during its regular renewal process.
Why would the state board take such a baffling action? Because the powerful political forces behind these elected officials are far more interested in protecting a singular, one-size-fits-all public school system than in nurturing student success.
A simple way to safeguard our existing school choice rights is to place them into the state constitution. Amendment 80, on the ballot this year, would ensure strong protections for the wide array of high-quality school options in our state. Attempts to pass laws that harm or take away school choice options would no longer be possible, as the constitutional amendment would legally protect the right to school choice over attacks from politicians.
In a poll conducted by Ready Colorado in 2023, a majority of voters from both parties supported guaranteeing a right to school choice to ensure all families can choose the best school for their child. Please join me and thousands of families across the state in voting “yes” on Amendment 80 to protect school choice.
Brenda Dickhoner, Ph.D., lives in Littleton and is the president and CEO of Ready Colorado.
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