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Constitutional Right to School Choice | |||||||||||||
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| Elections in Colorado |
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Colorado Amendment 80 was a proposed amendment to the Colorado Constitution that appeared on the general election ballot on November 5, 2024, in Colorado. If passed, the amendment would have added a provision to the state's Constitution guaranteeing the right to school choice. The measure must have been approved by at least 55% of voters to pass. [1]
Currently, K-12 students in Colorado have the options of attending public, charter, private, online, or neighborhood schools as well as homeschooling. Students can also use the state's open enrollment process to attend public schools in school districts they do not live in for free. This has been the case since 1994, when open enrollment was implemented by state law.
Amendment 80 was referred to the ballot by a citizen initiated petition. Both petitioning for the measure and the campaign in favor were led by the conservative group Advance Colorado Action. The group is also behind Proposition 128 and Proposition 130. Some supporters claim this amendment would simply move the existing school options in Colorado from state statute to the state Constitution. Many opponents argued Amendment 80 would create a school voucher system in Colorado and take funding away from public schools. [2]
The amendment appeared on the ballot as follows: [3]
Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution establishing the right to school choice for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, and, in connection therewith, declaring that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, and private schools; home schooling; open enrollment options; and future innovations in education?
Support for Amendment 80 was led by the group School Choice For Every Child. [4] Colorado's official voter guide also offers the arguments for the measure that it should be a parent's right to choose whatever school they see fit for their child, whether public or private, and that Amendment 80 would protect parents and children by putting that right into the Colorado Constitution.
Opposition to Amendment 80 was led by the group Public Schools Strong. The state's official voter guide offered the arguments against the amendment that Colorado already offers free public education, the language of the amendment is unclear, and it would lead to public funds being put into private schools.
Amendment 80 required a 55% majority to pass. It failed, receiving just under 50% of the vote. [9]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 No | 1,548,679 | 50.68 |
| Yes | 1,507,236 | 49.32 |
| Total votes | 3,055,915 | 100.00 |
| County | For | Against | Margin | Total votes cast | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 118,427 | 54.23% | 99,932 | 45.77% | 18,495 | 8.47% | 218,359 |
| Alamosa | 3,732 | 53.15% | 3,289 | 46.85% | 443 | 6.31% | 7,021 |
| Arapahoe | 153,143 | 49.00% | 159,412 | 51.00% | -6,269 | -2.01% | 312,555 |
| Archuleta | 5,181 | 58.46% | 3,682 | 41.54% | 1,499 | 16.91% | 8,863 |
| Baca | 898 | 46.84% | 1,019 | 53.16% | -121 | -6.31% | 1,917 |
| Bent | 1,020 | 48.14% | 1,099 | 51.86% | -79 | -3.73% | 2,119 |
| Boulder | 66,866 | 35.92% | 119,273 | 64.08% | -52,407 | -28.15% | 186,139 |
| Broomfield | 19,908 | 44.31% | 25,023 | 55.69% | -5,115 | -11.38% | 44,931 |
| Chaffee | 6,523 | 46.97% | 7,364 | 53.03% | -841 | -6.06% | 13,887 |
| Cheyenne | 516 | 50.34% | 509 | 49.66% | 7 | 0.68% | 1,025 |
| Clear Creek | 2,788 | 48.12% | 3,006 | 51.88% | -218 | -3.76% | 5,794 |
| Conejos | 1,941 | 49.06% | 2,015 | 50.94% | -74 | -1.87% | 3,956 |
| Costilla | 1,070 | 55.30% | 865 | 44.70% | 205 | 10.59% | 1,935 |
| Crowley | 897 | 53.87% | 768 | 46.13% | 129 | 7.75% | 1,665 |
| Custer | 2,255 | 60.01% | 1,503 | 39.99% | 752 | 20.01% | 3,758 |
| Delta | 11,483 | 61.01% | 7,338 | 38.99% | 4,145 | 22.02% | 18,821 |
| Denver | 137,100 | 39.93% | 206,285 | 60.07% | -69,185 | -20.15% | 343,385 |
| Dolores | 782 | 58.49% | 555 | 41.51% | 227 | 16.98% | 1,337 |
| Douglas | 113,118 | 48.22% | 121,454 | 51.78% | -8,336 | -3.55% | 234,572 |
| Eagle | 13,046 | 49.85% | 13,126 | 50.15% | -80 | -0.31% | 26,172 |
| El Paso | 207,203 | 56.29% | 160,884 | 43.71% | 46,319 | 12.58% | 368,087 |
| Elbert | 11,913 | 60.16% | 7,888 | 39.84% | 4,025 | 20.33% | 19,801 |
| Fremont | 13,975 | 56.46% | 10,775 | 43.54% | 3,200 | 12.93% | 24,750 |
| Garfield | 14,876 | 50.98% | 14,302 | 49.02% | 574 | 1.97% | 29,178 |
| Gilpin | 1,908 | 48.02% | 2,065 | 51.98% | -157 | -3.95% | 3,973 |
| Grand | 4,616 | 48.12% | 4,977 | 51.88% | -361 | -3.76% | 9,593 |
| Gunnison | 4,407 | 42.49% | 5,964 | 57.51% | -1,557 | -15.01% | 10,371 |
| Hinsdale | 329 | 57.32% | 245 | 42.68% | 84 | 14.63% | 574 |
| Huerfano | 2,322 | 54.47% | 1,941 | 45.53% | 381 | 8.94% | 4,263 |
| Jackson | 446 | 55.68% | 355 | 44.32% | 91 | 11.36% | 801 |
| Jefferson | 160,676 | 45.83% | 189,914 | 54.17% | -29,238 | -8.34% | 350,590 |
| Kiowa | 417 | 49.70% | 422 | 50.30% | -5 | -0.60% | 839 |
| Kit Carson | 2,108 | 59.56% | 1,431 | 40.44% | 677 | 19.13% | 3,539 |
| La Plata | 16,635 | 49.19% | 17,185 | 50.81% | -550 | -1.63% | 33,820 |
| Lake | 1,818 | 48.77% | 1,910 | 51.23% | -92 | -2.47% | 3,728 |
| Larimer | 102,170 | 47.34% | 113,661 | 52.66% | -11,491 | -5.32% | 215,831 |
| Las Animas | 4,040 | 54.21% | 3,412 | 45.79% | 628 | 8.43% | 7,452 |
| Lincoln | 1,225 | 48.59% | 1,296 | 51.41% | -71 | -2.82% | 2,521 |
| Logan | 5,027 | 51.47% | 4,740 | 48.53% | 287 | 2.94% | 9,767 |
| Mesa | 53,896 | 61.14% | 34,260 | 38.86% | 19,636 | 22.27% | 88,156 |
| Mineral | 352 | 49.65% | 357 | 50.35% | -5 | -0.71% | 709 |
| Moffat | 3,885 | 61.06% | 2,478 | 38.94% | 1,407 | 22.11% | 6,363 |
| Montezuma | 8,249 | 57.13% | 6,191 | 42.87% | 2,058 | 14.25% | 14,440 |
| Montrose | 15,558 | 62.96% | 9,154 | 37.04% | 6,404 | 25.91% | 24,712 |
| Morgan | 7,015 | 54.16% | 5,937 | 45.84% | 1,078 | 8.32% | 12,952 |
| Otero | 4,057 | 46.68% | 4,635 | 53.32% | -578 | -6.65% | 8,692 |
| Ouray | 1,826 | 46.57% | 2,095 | 53.43% | -269 | -6.86% | 3,921 |
| Park | 6,366 | 54.33% | 5,351 | 45.67% | 1,015 | 8.66% | 11,717 |
| Phillips | 1,150 | 51.94% | 1,064 | 48.06% | 86 | 3.88% | 2,214 |
| Pitkin | 4,337 | 41.88% | 6,018 | 58.12% | -1,681 | -16.23% | 10,355 |
| Prowers | 2,527 | 50.99% | 2,429 | 49.01% | 98 | 1.98% | 4,956 |
| Pueblo | 46,446 | 56.65% | 35,548 | 43.35% | 10,898 | 13.29% | 81,994 |
| Rio Blanco | 2,014 | 56.65% | 1,541 | 43.35% | 473 | 13.31% | 3,555 |
| Rio Grande | 3,253 | 54.15% | 2,754 | 45.85% | 499 | 8.31% | 6,007 |
| Routt | 6,646 | 42.39% | 9,031 | 57.61% | -2,385 | -15.21% | 15,677 |
| Saguache | 1,665 | 51.84% | 1,547 | 48.16% | 118 | 3.67% | 3,212 |
| San Juan | 231 | 42.54% | 312 | 57.46% | -81 | -14.92% | 543 |
| San Miguel | 1,947 | 43.58% | 2,521 | 56.42% | -574 | -12.85% | 4,468 |
| Sedgwick | 718 | 55.96% | 565 | 44.04% | 153 | 11.93% | 1,283 |
| Summit | 7,354 | 44.78% | 9,069 | 55.22% | -1,715 | -10.44% | 16,423 |
| Teller | 9,590 | 60.46% | 6,272 | 39.54% | 3,318 | 20.92% | 15,862 |
| Washington | 1,392 | 51.03% | 1,336 | 48.97% | 56 | 2.05% | 2,728 |
| Weld | 97,964 | 56.70% | 74,810 | 43.30% | 23,154 | 13.40% | 172,774 |
| Yuma | 1,993 | 44.16% | 2,520 | 55.84% | -527 | -11.68% | 4,513 |
| Total | 1,507,236 | 49.32% | 1,548,679 | 50.68% | -41,443 | -1.36% | 3,055,915 |
