Amendment 80 states that all children should have access to a school of choice and have the equal right to good schooling, but the funding from this comes from the public school system.
Amendment 80 is about school of choice, all children having an equal opportunity for education, and parents being able to direct their children’s education. If passed, this would change several things throughout districts, stating that all children have the right to equal opportunity to access quality education; that parents have the right to direct the education of their children, and that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, private, and home schools, open enrollment options, and future innovations in education. This would drastically change school choice throughout the state and allow for more choice for charter, private, and home schools. Although it would provide this, Senior Mila Stepan speaks of the downsides of Amendment 80, “We’re already … a very underfunded district. So the more we stretch, those public funds go to charter schools and stuff like that, so we have less for people in our public education system” Stepan speaks of how despite giving better choices for things like private, charter, and homeschools, the money for these comes from the public school system, causing lower quality education for students that attend public schools. Amendment 80 affects all of the public schools in Colorado and will reduce funding for teacher salaries, lower quality buildings, and in general just lower quality schooling for the public school system. Amendment 80 has several upsides and downsides and will largely change schooling after it is or isn’t put into place.
