School Choice Ballot Measure: Amendment 80

Affirm Parental Rights. Vote NO on Amendment 80.

Read the language of the amendment here

We SUPPORT

School Choice: We agree that the state should encourage a robust market where parents can make informed educational choices for their children. Parent advocates have long fought to ensure that a multitude of educational opportunities, with varying degrees of government control and parental involvement, are available in Colorado.

Parental Rights: We agree that parents know their children best and have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children. We also affirm that the government does not have a right to interfere in decisions made by parents, except under extraordinary circumstances.

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We OPPOSE

Separating children from their parents by giving a right to school choice to a child: A simple reading of the School Choice Ballot Measure (Amendment 80) text implies that the child holds the right to school choice, while parents can only “direct” the child’s education. This separation of a child’s right to school choice from the parent’s right to direct the education of their children could undermine parental rights and increase government interference in the exercise of school choice.

Government defining “quality education”: The School Choice Ballot Measure creates a child’s right to a “quality education.” At first glance, that sounds like a good thing! But who defines what a “quality education” is? The ballot measure opens the door for the government to define what a “quality education” is.

Affirm Parental Rights. Vote NO on Amendment 80.

What is the issue?

School Choice. Colorado parents have successfully fought for substantial educational choices. While some believe the measure will give us more freedom, the unintended consequences of this measure could encourage the state to further define and regulate “quality education”, thus diminishing or eliminating true school choice.
Jurisdiction. The ballot creates confusion regarding who has jurisdiction over the education of children, especially when it comes to enforcing a child’s “right to choose”.
Rights. It has long been held in US jurisprudence, based on natural law, that parents have the responsibility and duty to educate their children. More recently, there has been a global push to establish children’s rights as a way to erode parents’ rights.

What is at stake?

Freedom. Parental authority over their child’s education and the ability to choose alternative education options to educate children without government intrusion could be endangered by creating the right of a child to “school choice” and a “quality education.” Based on the language in the ballot measure, the state becomes the arbiter between the child’s right and the parent’s right, and the state will become the determiner of what a quality education is.