Projections show three states are voting against school choice

CNA Staff November 6, 2024 / 11:45 am

Kentucky, Nebraska and Colorado voted on school choice measures Tuesday. While the measure has not yet taken effect in Colorado, voters in every state are moving to reject school choice.

Kentucky

With more than 95% of votes counted, Kentucky voters rejected an amendment that would have allowed charter school funding by a nearly 2-1 margin.

Charter schools in Kentucky are currently legal but are not funded by the state. Kentucky Amendment 2, the Education Opportunities Constitution Amendment, would have allowed the state to provide federal funding to students outside of public schools. The change would have allowed consideration of a voucher program for students to attend private and parochial schools.

The Kentucky Constitution only allows state funds to be used for “common schools,” which are generally understood to mean public schools. If passed, the amendment would have expressly allowed the administration to provide “financial assistance for the education of students outside the public school system” to K-12 students, according to the amendment text.

School choice advocates in Kentucky have tried to push through funding for charter schools in recent years, but the Kentucky Supreme Court has struck down both attempts.

The coalition opposing the Kentucky charter school change spent nearly four times as much as its supporters.

Nebraska

Nebraska voters, by a vote of about 57-42, repealed a recently passed school scholarship voucher program that created a $10 million fund for scholarships.

The LB 1402 school choice program provided scholarships to students to attend qualified private schools, including parochial schools, with high priority given to students in foster care, students who have experienced bullying or harassment, students in need of special education, and students with low levels of education . Lower middle class income and families. It is designed to provide students with the opportunity to apply for and receive private school scholarships through scholarship awarding organizations.

Support Our Schools, which supported the repeal, received $7.42 million in funding, primarily from the National Education Association and the Nebraska State Education Association. The group Keep Kids First, which fought the repeal, had only $1.45 million in funding.

Colorado

Colorado voters are on track to reject a school choice amendment with about 72% of votes counted, but The New York Times and The Colorado Sun have not yet called for it.

Colorado Amendment 80 would have enshrined a right to school choice in the state constitution. A support of 55% was required to pass. At the time of publication there were only about 47.9% in favor and about 52% against.

The school choice amendment would have enshrined a “right to school choice” for K-12 students in the state constitution. Amendment 80 defined school choice as “neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, home schools, open enrollment opportunities, and future innovations in education.” The change would have given parents “the right to determine their children’s education,” while ensuring that all children “have the right to equal opportunities to access a quality education.”

Colorado students can currently apply to public schools outside their district or to one of the state's more than 260 charter schools.

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The amendment would have opened up the possibility of school choice programs at parochial schools.

While the Catholic bishops supported school choice, a Colorado homeschooling group, Christian Home Educators of Colorado, argued that the measure could lead to “increased government interference” because of its wording.

School choice in the USA

These votes against school choice bucked the ongoing trend in the U.S. in favor of school choice after a record year in 2023, when 20 states expanded their school choice programs, with 11 states adopting “universal” school choice by allowing all students to receive federal student aid in non-government schools to visit.

School choice advocates argue that school choice helps parents make the best decision for their parents.

“Ensuring a quality education for our children is a fundamental duty and right shared by all parents,” Alleigh Marré, executive director of the American Parents Coalition, a parent rights group based in Washington, DC, told CNA.

“Whether it's gender-specific policies on sports teams and restrooms or a curriculum focused on the activist political issue of the day, school choice is a critically important issue that gives parents the flexibility to make the best possible decision for their children and children to meet her family,” said Marré.