Vote NO on 80

Boulder Progressives urges a NO vote on 80.
In fact, we feel so strongly about the importance of this issue that we've made an extra voter guide page just for Amendment 80.

Amendment 80 is misleading and harms pubic education. Public education is a public good that benefits everyone, and it’s essential that we continue to invest in it. Amendment 80 seeks to jeopardize this by shifting focus and funding away from public schools, increasing disparities in access and quality. We must protect our public school system and ensure it remains a strong, well-funded pillar of our communities.

Stand with teachers. Vote NO on Amendment 80 to safeguard public education for all.
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Hear more about why it’s important to vote NO on Prop 80 directly from soon-to-be-elected State Board of Education member (CD2), former BVSD Board of Education President, and education law professor Kathy Gebhardt:

"The most obvious concern, which many others have already focused on, is that Amendment 80 could open the door to vouchers. Colorado’s voters and legislators have soundly defeated vouchers every time they have been proposed. But this measure locks in a right to private schools for the first time ever in Colorado, and the fear is that this might lead a court to require that taxpayer money be diverted to subsidize this right.

Private schools do not have to accept all students, and our laws protecting students with disabilities and other vulnerable students have very limited reach to help students in these schools – particularly religious private schools. I believe our public dollars should support schools that provide opportunities for all our children.

...this amendment could impact a locally elected school board’s ability to regulate or close an under-performing, under-enrolled, or even fiscally irresponsible charter school. Many factors are taken into consideration by a local board in reaching a decision about a charter school. Under what circumstances does a parent’s right to a charter school be enforced to demand that a charter remain open, regardless of other constitutional, operational, or financial concerns?

For all these reasons, I encourage you to vote NO on Amendment 80.”