OPINION:
Innovations in K-12 education have kept Colorado at the forefront of progress for decades, but a new bill — HB 24-1363 — threatens to reverse many of the state’s gains. To understand the magnitude of this attack, let’s look back on Colorado’s incredible public school choice history.
Democrat Richard Lamm was elected governor in 1974, just when interest in open and alternative schools began to rumble. By the mid-1980s, Lamm hosted a task force meeting about public school choice in the Colorado state Capitol building. In 1988, Republican state Sen. Al Meiklejohn and Democratic state Rep. Dick Bond passed Senate Bill 56 to expand home-school freedoms.
In June 1991, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to pass a charter school bill, but Colorado was right on its heels. In December 1992, Democratic state Rep. Peggy Kerns joined Republican state Sen. Bill Owens as a primary sponsor of the 1993 charter school legislation.
By that summer, Democratic Gov. Roy Romer signed the Colorado Charter Schools Act into law, and the first charter school opened that fall: Connect School in Pueblo County Rural District 70.
Looking over this short history, you may notice a healthy mix of Democrats and Republicans. In the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Colorado Democrats and Republicans worked together to expand charter school options — which improved access to high-quality education and gave public schools incentive to compete for students. For decades, this system of choice has benefited Coloradans of all demographics and income levels.
Now, in a stunning reversal, several Colorado legislators seek to undo years of bipartisan progress for Colorado’s students. HB 24-1363 would grant district schools unchecked power to reshape public education in the state, limiting the freedom charter schools need to provide unique, nourishing environments for Colorado’s students.
As an education pioneer, Colorado has produced some of the nation’s most successful public charter schools. For instance, the Denver School of Science and Technology has obliterated achievement gaps. To date, 100% of the school’s graduates have been admitted into college, university, or postsecondary programs. And 61% of its students are Hispanic, 20% are Black/African American, and 77% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The state has served the nation as a hub of K-12 research and development. Colorado public charter school students attend STEM schools, classical education schools, and schools focused on the performing arts. Colorado parents can opt for schools based on Montessori methods or language immersion, or even schools designed for children on the autism spectrum.
As of 2023, more than 137,000 Colorado children were enrolled in charter schools. Think about that — over 137,000 children attended schools chosen from a wide variety of high-quality options by their parents, who know their children better than anyone else. It’s a system created for successful outcomes.
Now, shortsighted legislation would make it harder for charter schools to obtain waivers from certain laws and policies, reducing their autonomy compared with traditional public schools. The bill would remove charter schools’ ability to determine how to evaluate their teachers and other personnel and limit the appeals process available to charter schools when denied approval by local school boards. It would also dictate the structure and composition of charter school governing boards, imposing “one size fits all” governance on a vast spectrum of schools that are achieving great things because they have the freedom to innovate.
If this bill passes, traditional school districts would have much more power to stop competition. School districts could impose moratoriums on approving new charter schools and deny charter applications due to declining enrollment. Districts would also be able to charge charter schools for administrative oversight, which could reduce charter schools’ per-pupil funding.
Instead of keeping decision-making power with parents, this bill aims to consolidate power in the school districts — districts that thousands of families have already chosen to leave for better opportunities in public charter schools. Fortunately, Gov. Jared Polis has said he opposes the bill. Legislators would be wise to follow his lead.
Students with the most to lose are low-income and minority students who have gained the most from education innovation in Colorado. The state must continue putting children’s interests ahead of the interests of unions, politicians, and other adults who take advantage of a monopolistic K-12 system.
• Valeria Gurr is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. She is a passionate advocate for educational choice, particularly for underserved families, and founded La Federacion Americana Para los Ninos. For more information, visit federationforchildren.org/staff/valeria-gurr.
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