Michael Fields – Advance Colorado – (720) 218-9478
Jesse Mallory – AFP – (720) 646-2155
EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY COALITION TARGETS BILL FOR DEFEAT THAT AIMS TO KILL CHARTER SCHOOLS
Bill At Odds With Colorado’s Decades-Long Bipartisan
Consensus on the Benefits of Charter School
(DENVER) -- Stressing that the bill would set Colorado education back decades, Advance Colorado and Americans for Prosperity vowed to defeat legislation introduced today that would mark “the beginning of the end of charter schools in Colorado. “Colorado’s education system should not take a one-size-fits-all approach to learning, and charter schools should be celebrated," said Jesse Mallory, AFP-CO State Director "Charter schools account for 15 percent of total public school enrollment in the state. Instead of empowering Colorado parents and students with more choices for a tailored education, this bill seeks to take options away from families. This misguided legislation ought to be dead on arrival,” “Colorado was one of the national pioneers of the charter school movement, and for decades there has been a bipartisan consensus – under Democratic and Republican governors -- that charter schools benefit families across our state,” said Kristi Burton Brown, Advance Colorado Executive Vice President. “This bill contains the greatest hits of every extreme measure proposed for years to kneecap charter schools and the families who choose them for their kids.“ The legislation,HB24-1363, was introduced today by Reps. Garcia and Story along with Sen. Cutter. The bill would undo numerous legal protections for charter schools that have earned bipartisan support, including access to existing and underutilized public school facilities, varying legal routes for charter approval and the bill provides numerous ways for charters to be revoked without rigorous due process. The coalition said that the education establishment, led by teacher unions, have targeted charter public schools for many years, because more and more families – including many families of color – see charters as an oasis from traditional schools that are not meeting their kids’ educational needs. Fundamentally, the education establishment fears the robust competition they receive from families choosing charter schools. The coalition cited statistics showing that the state’s charter school population is far more diverse than the state as a whole. A majority of the children enrolling in charter schools are non-white, compared to the 86 percent of Colorado that is white. “In a state with a governor who is a proud founder of a charter school, it is wildly out of touch to believe that a bill neutering this effective and nationally proven, popular education option could become law," said Mallory and Burton Brown.. "We at Advance Colorado and Americans for Prosperity, along with parents across our state, will work overtime to make sure this bill is soundly defeated."
