By Allen Fuller and Melanie Fuller | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
As a husband and wife who both serve on the boards of different charter schools, and as parents of three students currently in K-12 schools in Colorado, we fully support not only Amendment 80, but also the incredible opportunity and personalization school choice creates.
Colorado charter schools, which have been a multi-decade success story for children and families, are under constant attack. Amendment 80, on this year’s ballot, is the best long term insurance policy for protecting Colorado’s rich history of innovation in education.
Amendment 80 is an essential addition to our state constitution. We strongly support it because we have seen firsthand how children thrive when families can choose public schools that are innovative, transparent and accountable.
It’s natural, and important, to ask questions before voting to add an amendment to our state’s constitution. We have heard from many friends in the school choice community with concerns that this will open the door for the state legislature to regulate school funding and curriculum, especially for homeschool families. While we understand the concern and hesitation, Amendment 80 makes it more challenging for the legislature to eradicate school choice — as they attempted to do earlier this year.
Issues regarding school funding or curriculum are untouched by Amendment 80 and will continue to be best handled by school boards and parents.
The system works. Colorado’s 265 charter schools are the choice of 135,000 students this school year. The charter population is more diverse and has more English-language learners than do traditional public schools. Statistics show that seven out of the top 10 high schools and nine of the top 20 middle schools in Colorado are charter schools.
Given the successful model, and the record of results, it is mystifying that the education establishment spends so much of its time and treasure attacking school choice, and specifically charter schools.
Each year, school choice is in the crosshairs of the teacher unions and other education groups at the Colorado Legislature or in local school districts. In their ideal world, charter schools would be forced out of existence, homeschooling would be loaded with needless regulations and parental rights would be severely limited.
That is why the teacher unions are dropping millions of dollars to stop Amendment 80. They know that even incremental damage to our school choice rights, no matter how hurtful to kids, is a win for their desire to turn the classroom clocks back to the days without competition or real accountability.
We’ve all seen the phony advertising. The millions they spent fear mongering could have been invested in resources for teachers and schools, but instead they concocted a scenario that Amendment 80 will alter school funding or create new programs.
It doesn’t.
A read of the official Blue Book guide to this year’s ballot measures clearly states that Amendment 80 doesn’t cost a dime. It doesn’t change the allocation of education dollars. It doesn’t change current education programs.
It protects your rights and creates opportunity for every Colorado family to find the school right for them.
Amendment 80 will settle the debate on school choice, silencing the chaotic noise filling our airwaves and classrooms once and for all. When rights are protected in the constitution, groups can’t chip away at them – or erase them – with simple laws or regulations. It takes a constitutional amendment, which is exceedingly challenging.
We believe that innovation, empowering parents and encouraging educators to be creative professionals is the 21st century way to ensure kids have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a highly competitive world.
Amendment 80 keeps Colorado’s dynamic education system serving families across our state for years to come. Stand up for kids and families and vote “yes” on Amendment 80.
Allen & Melanie Fuller are small business owners who live in Erie, Colo. They have three children in 2nd – 12th grades. Allen serves on the network board of Ascent Classical Academy Charter Schools. Melanie serves on the board of Twin Peaks Classical Academy.