3 states blunt school choice momentum

Teachers greet students stepping off their bus at a Louisville, Ky., public elementary school in 2022. A proposed constitutional amendment to allow public funding support for private school education in the state was soundly defeated in last week's election by nearly two-thirds of the vote. (Jon Cherry/)

Voters in Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska put the brakes on the school choice movement on Nov. 5, rejecting ballot measures that would have instituted or expanded state support for parents to send their kids to private schools or protected other school choice options.

There are at least 75 private school choice programs available across 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, according to EdChoice, a group that supports such programs. And the movement had been gaining momentum.

Public school systems and teachers unions largely oppose voucher programs that use tax dollars to support private school education, saying the programs take needed money from public schools. Many opponents also note that private schools may not have the same accreditation requirements and course curriculum as public schools.

EdChoice blamed the influence of teachers unions on the vote outcome, calling the union opposition a "juggernaut with money to burn," in a Nov. 6 statement.

In Nebraska, voters partially repealed a state-funded private school scholarship program.

A 2024 law, an update of a similar law passed in 2023, had allocated $10 million a year for the program. Supporters of the allocation argued that parents unhappy with their public schools needed state dollars to help pay for private education. But opposition came from both rural and urban supporters of public schools, the Nebraska Examiner reported . The repeal passed with 57% of the vote.

Nebraska state Sen. Dave Murman, a proponent of school choice who identifies as a Republican in the nonpartisan legislature, said he was disappointed in the outcome, but not surprised. He acknowledged that public schools are popular in Nebraska.

"Because of that, we had advocates for public schools spread all across the state," he said. But he argued that students would benefit from private school options and said he plans to continue the fight.

In Kentucky, the ballot measure would have amended the constitution to allow public funding support for private education. Some 65% of the voters rejected the attempt to amend the state constitution to allow it; it went down in every county .

The measure was supported by Republican lawmakers and heavily opposed by public school proponents and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. He said that the outcome is a message from voters to increase funding for the state's public schools.

Previous GOP-led efforts to legalize school choice hadn't panned out, with courts striking down a 2021 law to award tax credits for donations to private school scholarship funds, and a 2022 law that would have created public funding for charter schools.

The ballot initiative's language, according to state Sen. Damon Thayer, a Republican and a strong supporter of the referendum, would have given the legislature the authority to pass laws similar to the ones that were thrown out, he told Stateline.

He said arguments that the amendment would have hurt public and especially rural schools were just "flat-out wrong. These calamities the doubters foster have not come to fruition [in other states]," he said.

Colorado's ballot measure would have enshrined a school choice option in the state constitution.

The proposed amendment, which was rejected 52%-48%, would have added language saying that each "K-12 child has the right to school choice" and that "parents have the right to direct the education of their children." School choice would explicitly include neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, homeschools, open enrollment options and future innovations in education, the measure said.

Conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado championed the amendment.

Colorado already allows students to attend any public school — even outside their district — for free and has long had charter school options. Critics of the ballot measure said it would have opened the door to private school vouchers, though backers said that wasn't their intent and that the ballot measure was simply meant to protect charter schools.

Charter schools, however, largely sat out the election. The Christian Home Educators of Colorado opposed the measure in part because it would have guaranteed a "quality education" without defining what that meant.

In Texas, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime supporter of school vouchers, cheered the elections of similar-thinking state Republicans whom he had supported in the primary.

Abbott said during a recent visit to a Christian school that those new members would give him enough votes to pass a school voucher program when the legislature reconvenes in January.