This piece originally appeared in the Colorado Times Recorder.
Progressive public education advocates in Colorado have found an unlikely ally in their opposition to Amendment 80 – Christian homeschoolers.
Amendment 80, “Constitutional Right to School Choice,” would enumerate the right to school choice for children in K-12 education and the right for parents to direct the education of their children, a right they already have under state law, directly into the Colorado State Constitution. It would also define school choice to include public neighborhood and charter schools, private schools, home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education.
Amendment 80 came on the heels of this year’s failed House Bill 1363, “Charter Schools Accountability.” The bill would have imposed additional regulations on Colorado’s charter schools, removed automatic waivers for things like teacher licensure and readiness assessments, allowed community members to appeal a local board’s decision to approve a charter school, and granted boards broader powers to revoke or not renew a charter.
Amendment 80 is the brainchild of conservative think tank Advance Colorado, sponsored by Michael Fields, president of Advance Colorado, and Suzanne Taheri, the conservative lawyer who ran unsuccessfully against Sen. Chris Kolker (D-Centennial) in 2020. Burton Brown also previously chaired the Colorado GOP, led the far-right group FEC United, and worked under Republican Secretaries of State Wayne Williams and Scott Gessler. In March, Taheri was retained by Colorado Springs School District 11 to represent the district in bargaining sessions with the Colorado Springs Education Association.
“[Amendment 80] is the only way we stop the teachers’ unions from shuttering charter schools and taking away the right to choose educational options that best fit your own kid across the state,” said Advance Colorado Vice President Kristi Burton Brown during a March appearance on the Jeff & Bill Show.
Last week, Carolyn Martin, director of government relations for the Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC), appeared on the Jeff & Bill Show to discuss her opposition to Amendment 80.
“We’re concerned that this measure will move us more in the direction of the idea of human rights for children and away from parental rights,” said Martin. “We’re seeing them erode parental rights. … They’ve taken away parents’ right to direct the mental health of their children. They’ve given it to the child, and this is the movement that we’re seeing across the country, and it’s being influenced by international forces to give children rights separate from their parents. So, this is concerning to us. We think the language could be stronger in terms of parental rights.”
Despite her opposition to Amendment 80, Martin did acknowledge the common ground with Advance Colorado. “I think we can all agree that parents have the right to direct the education of children,” she said. “Home educators have been fighting for that right since the 1980s and 90s. Actually, in Colorado, we were in the top 10 worst states to homeschool, so this issue is near and dear to our heart.”
Martin isn’t the only Christian conservative who isn’t supporting Amendment 80. Former state Sen. Kevin Lundberg, who leads the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, decided to remain neutral on the issue, explaining his decision in a note on his most recent enewsletter:
“This one needs some explanation,” says Lundberg. I rarely oppose any school choice options, but I am troubled by the final sentence in this constitutional question: “Each K-12 child has the right to school choice.” This constitutional wording may in some cases grant the authority for school choice to the child instead of the parents. I consider this wording to be problematic, and therefore I am taking a neutral position for my public recommendations.”
While public school advocates broadly support human rights for children, their concerns are that Amendment 80 would impact funding for public education. Colorado’s 2024 State Ballot Information Booklet notes, “Amendment 80 may affect how the legislature makes policies about school choice and lead to changes to state law and local school district policy via court interpretation or direction. … Depending on how the measure is interpreted by the courts and the state legislature, the measure may change the allocation of state or local funding for education.”
Education advocacy groups like the DougCo Collective are concerned Amendment 80 could lead the way for school voucher programs in Colorado.
“As public education advocates, DougCo Collective believes that taxpayer dollars belong with the public education system, and we oppose vouchers and Education Savings/Scholarship Accounts,” the group said in a Sept. 25 news release. “As Colorado continues to struggle with school funding, it makes no sense to support any actions that could potentially divert already scarce education dollars from our chronically underfunded schools. Notably, Amendment 80 is also opposed by a broad spectrum of organizations, including the Colorado Education Association, the Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Stand for Children and the ACLU.”
Fort Morgan School District Superintendent Rob Sanders said in a news release that many rural areas don’t have private schools. “Education funding will be diverted from rural communities like mine and over 140 other rural and small rural school districts in the state of Colorado and sent to metro areas,” he said. “This is simply unacceptable.”
According to reporting from ProPublica, In 2022, Arizona pioneered the largest school voucher program in the history of education, but this year is facing a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending.
