October 24, 2024 • 17 mins
WE MUST CODIFY SCHOOL CHOICE And Amendment 80 does just that by putting school choice into Colorado's Constitution. That is the ONLY way the teachers unions will stop trying to destroy the robust and wildly successful charter school system we have here in Colorado. A majority of the schools in the top ten in Colorado are charter schools are private schools and the teachers unions HATE THIS because they can't control either. Kristi Burton Brown (who is also running for Board of Education and you need to vote for her if you can) is on today to talk about the union money flowing in to stop this and why it must pass.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, we're going to talk about some ignorance lying
around about the proposed Amendment number eighty. Joining me now
is Christy Burton Brown with Advanced Colorado. Also side note,
she's also running for the Board of Education in the
fourth district. And I already voted for you or her,
So there you go. My secret ballot is out now Christy,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
First of all, thank you, Mandy, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Andrew vote, Well, we're going to talk first about the
Amendment eighty, which is a school choice amendment and Advanced
Colorado and what other organization put this forth? It just
went out of my head.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Actually we are the organization of posts. Okay, so we
have a good coalition supporting it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Okay, great, So Advanced Colorado puts this forth. It is
a very simply worded amendment and that I think is
part of its beauty but also part of the issues
that have arisen, or at least issues that have been
seized on by people who don't want this to pass.
And I want to start by talking about where are
the money's coming from on the anti side, Kelly, because now, no,
(01:05):
let's not start there. Tell people what amendment eighty does,
and why it's important that it passes first, Let's start.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
There, sure your right, Mandy, that is actually completely simple.
Out of all the fourteen measures on your ballot, Amendment
eighty is basic. It is putting the right to school
choice we've enjoyed in Colorado for decades in our constitution
so that it's no longer at the mercy of politicians
who can change it whenever they want.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So the purpose of this is to push back against
the sort of shifting tides in Colorado because Colorado, and
I talked to my listeners about this earlier, Christy, Colorado
was really at the forefront of the school choice movement
many years ago, and because of that, we have a
vibrant charter school community. We have a vibrant home school
community with great supports, but they are outside the control
(01:48):
of the teachers union. And that's what brings us to
who's spending against Amendment eighty. Is it all coming from
teachers unions or there are other people trying to get
this defeated.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So it is almost entirely coming from the teachers Union.
And what I think people really need to know is
that it's the National Teachers Union who's funding the majority
of the campaign, putting those ads on your TV and
lying about an amendment eighty. As of a few days ago,
the National Teachers Union had put in over four million dollars,
and the other roughly million dollars that they have has
(02:22):
come from in a state, the Colorado Teachers Union and
a couple other organizations that smaller amounts. But it really
is National Teachers Union doesn't understand our system here in Colorado,
doesn't know how popular it is, aligned to voters telling
them this is threatening public school funding when the Colorado
Fiscal note by a non partisan government agency say this
(02:43):
is zero dollar fiscal impact. This is not a funding amendment.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So one of the things I want to take a
little bit of a different tact than you just did.
I do believe that the teachers unions know how popular
this is. I do believe that they understand that we
have a vibrant charter school system and they absolutely hate it.
And even though all of the people who voted for
school choice and all of the people who have supported
charter schools in Colorado over the years, they've all moved
(03:09):
on right because they have jobs and families and they
figure it's done so we don't have to worry about
it anymore, whereas the teachers' unions never stop thinking about
how to undermine and destroy a parent's option to choose
the educational opportunity for their kid that best fits that kid,
which is at the heart of this amendment. I do
(03:30):
want to ask them, yeah, oh go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I was just going to say, and I agree with
you that their motives are very interfarious when you look
at what they do. They like to come in from
any you know, from their national high place, and come
into any state and say, doesn't matter what you guys
think of your system, right, hate it, and so we're
going to fight it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So let me ask you about some of the criticisms
that have been levied against Amendment eighty And the biggest,
most common one that I have heard from kind of
a surprising place is from homeschoolers or charter school parents
who say, wait a minute, does this give the government
any way to sort of snaggle their way in under
the guise of quote ensuring equality education.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Sure, and I've heard that's concerned as well, and I
think it comes from a good motive, but it's misplaced
when you look at that amendment eighty. It is like
the fact is the legislature could meet tomorrow in their
next session and put any restrictions on our rights to
school choice that they want to. They don't need our
permission to do that. And that, in fact, is the
exact reason we need Amendment eighty is because you tell
(04:33):
politicians to get their hands off your rights when you
put them in the constitution, because only the voters in
Colorado can change the constitution, not the legislature. So you
know the language, the operative language, this is very simple.
It is the right to school choice. And parents always
exercise rights in Colorado on behalf of their children, so
(04:53):
that's also very clear. Even though the right to school
choice is being given to every case through twelve child,
the purpose language also says parent and have the right
to direct the education of their child. That's an general
precedent Colorado camp violate. So that's immense parental rights and
school choice rights in our constitutions.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
This to me should be a no brainer, I mean honestly,
but is it enough of an issue to get people
to say, yeah, we need to put this in our constitution.
I mean, I know that we have a large chunk
of our children for any state. We have a pretty
good chunk of our children in charter schools. I know
that out of the top ten most successful schools in
the state, a good chunk of those are charter schools
(05:32):
or private schools. I think there's only one public high
school in the top ten. So I mean, I'm just
afraid there's complacency and people saying, look, why do we
need this, why do we need this now after we
have this vibrant system already?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Sure and media, I actually think you're right that people
tend to get complacent when you have rights that are
currently protected and you're not seeing the attacks coming on
the horizon. Where we work in the education issue every
day and we see what the legislature is proposing and
that they're trying to, in their own words, attempts to
create the beginning of the end for charter schools. In Colorado,
(06:08):
we have the second highest population in the nation of
charter school students. But I think a good relation that
people can see is to property taxes. Before our property
tax spike that happened last year, there was actually an
amendment on the ballot that would have stopped whose spikes
from happening and replaced Gallagher with something effective, and voters
voted it down because they weren't feeling the effect of
(06:30):
high property taxes. And now that this year you saw
everyone in the really have said about it and wanted
to fix I hope the same thing doesn't happen to
school choice. That people are like, well, we have the rights,
we like them, why put them in the constitution. And
then two years from now we see major attacks succeed
against school choice rights, and then people are like, oh, shoot,
we should have passed it. Like we're basically saying, be proactive.
(06:52):
If you like the rights you have on school choice,
get ahead of the politicians, put them in the constitution.
Don't leave yourself at their mercy.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And one of the things that I think people don't
necessarily pay attention to is the Board of Education in Colorado.
And people may not realize that if you are in
the Boulder Valley School District, your chances of getting a
charter school approved are very very low. So the option
to go and become a charter school under the Board
of Education to get around from anti charter union controlled
(07:20):
school boards is a huge thing that has to remain.
But it's my understanding and maybe you can correct me
if you're wrong, since you're running for the Board of Education.
The makeup of the Board of Education has changed in
such a way that puts those new approvals through the
state perhaps at risk. Is that accurate?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yesinitely, Actually all going to depend on the election this November,
because right now, even though it's a six ' to
three Democrat majority on the board, it's full of five
to four pro charter majority. But because what happened in
one of the Democrat primaries this year, it's set up
to be an anti charter board unless Yasmin Navarro and
CD eight when the Board of Ed seed if she wins,
(08:02):
there's still one Democrat on the board who's pro school choice,
in pro charter, who could still have a pro charter
majority if Yasmin wins.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You know, Christy, it's kind of crazy to me that
this has become so politicized on the Republican and Democrats side,
because there's an organization called Democrats for School Choice. So
this didn't used to be a highly politicized issue. When
did that happen? I mean, when did we go from
everybody saying, look, we want every kid to succeed and
(08:30):
we want parents who know their kids better than anybody
else to help them succeed. And yet here we are
still having this conversation. When did that shift take place?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You know, I think, honestly, Mandy, it has been a
shift among to your point, elected Democrats, not Democrats on
the ground when we've been pulling this issue. Their support
for school choice and keeping those rights in the constitution,
you know, a majority among all political parties. And that's
true across the nation because parents belong to all political
parties and want their kids to succeed. But I'd say
(09:00):
it about the last ten years in Colorado, the Democrat
Party has elected more people who are anti charter school,
anti choice, and you know, want to in my opinion,
they're leaving minority students, economically disadvantaged students in sailing schools
and saying you're stuck there. Too bad for you, this
is the only system you can choose, and studies actually
(09:21):
show that's what's going on. You know, when people like
that get elected to office, and so Amendment eighty gives
people on the ground, like Democrats on the street, who
don't feel that way, who want to make sure kids
from those kind of families are most vulnerable. Kids have
the option to go to a better and different school.
That's what Amendment eighty would cement and kind of put
back on these politicians that just aren't representing what people
(09:42):
in their party actually think.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, let me read this text message I just got
and people can text the Common Spirit Health text line
at five six six. And I know if you have
questions for Christy Mandy, the commercials against ad have said
that it may take money away from public education. I
know my wife voted against it for that reason. Can
you go through that?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sure? And you know that is what the ads are saying.
They're telling people this is going to put public school
funding at risk. The problem is that's a lie. And
the way you can know that, if you're like I
don't know which campaign to believe, they read the Colorado
Blue Book that is put together by non partisan analysts
that always do a fiscal impact statement, which says, basically,
how much is this measure going to cost us? Zero dollars.
(10:23):
That's not from our campaign, that's from the Union. That
is from non partison analysts who works for the state
of Colorado, and they say there is no cost associated
with this amendment. So I think people need to get
to get the facts for themselves, because again, those ads
on TV are being funded by the National Teachers Union.
That's straight up line to voters and the union ad debates.
I've debated them a couple of times. They acknowledge at
(10:46):
the debates, well, no, it's true, this isn't a voucher.
There is actually no funding, but maybe one day there
could be. So they actually acknowledge in person that the
suggestion this causes or sorry, cost money to voters is
a lie.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, now done a really good job just conflating a
school choice with vouchers. Right, They've demonized vouchers, So now
the move is to tie those two things together as
if they are the same when they are not. Now,
I personally am pro voucher, but I think that's going
to be one of those things that you are going
to have to get a lot of buy in from
(11:19):
a lot of different people before you can even attempt
it in a state. It can't be done at the
district level. It's got to be done at the state level,
and it's going to require a lot of conversation and talking,
and you cannot inflict that on people and expect it
not to just end up in the courts for decades,
you know what I mean, It's like vouchers. I love
(11:39):
the idea, but the practicality of it, I have it
on the back burner. I just want to make sure
that parents can choose the best option for their kids.
That's all I want out of this entire.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Thing, exactly, Mandy and I think, and that's what we're
doing in Amendment eighty. You know, I think if you're
realistic about where we are in Colorado right now, and
where we are in Colorado right now is a system
that has been enjoyed and celebrated protected on a biperson
basis for decades that you get to pick the best
school for your kids. And in Colorado, if you want
to put them in private school or homeschool, then, like
my husband and I do, you've got to pay for
(12:09):
that yourself. And then the eighty wouldn't change that. But
what it does say is the government can't interfere with
those rights. The government can't say, oh, sorry, we're going
to close down the charter school in your districts because
we don't like the enrollment numbers. That's as a local
school doesn't matter the charter school succeeding. We want to
close it down right now, they can do that in Colorado.
You know, they could ban open enrollment if they want to,
(12:31):
which is actually used by a lot of families in
Colorado to cross district lines go to a better school
for their kids. Then the legislature can dam that next
session if they want to. The only way to stop
that is to put those rights in the constitution, which
is very simply what in an eighty does without impacting fundings.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
A lot of textures asking a variation of this question, Mandy,
I heard this would allow funding of private schools by
using tax money. Does it do that?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Absolutely not, absolutely not, And that is what the Union
is spending millions of dollars saying on TV to people.
And it is an absolute why. And again people can
look at the blue books take take non partisan analysts
from the state's word for it. I mean, the state
is no. The current state is no fan of any
conservative issue. If this were going to cost money to
public schools, they would say so. They put fiscal impacts
(13:19):
on every measure, and they have said the fiscal impact
is zero dollars. You cannot get less funding than a
zero dollar fiscal impact. To no, this is not a voucher.
It's not a funding program. Would not take money from
public schools and put them into private.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
This person said Mandy. The concerns I'm reading from homeschoolers
is that the amendment says quality education. The concern is
who determines what is a quality education. They're afraid that
the government will decide exactly what that means. Can you
ask Christy if there's a possibility that the government can
decide how homeschoolers are taught?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Sure, great question, And I would say right now, the
government could meet in next legislative session and put any
restriction it wanted to on homeschooling families. It doesn't need
anyone's permission or a new law to do that. That
puts us, you know, if you are a homeschooler, and
I am a homeschooler and a homeschool grad, Actually that
puts us in a very scary situation where it's a
mercy of politicians who can restrict us tomorrow if they
(14:16):
want to so. And then an ad on the other hand,
would actually put the right to homeschool your kids as
a school choice option in the Colorado Constitution. You cannot
have greater protection from the winds of politicians than putting
that right in the Colorado Constitution. The quality language that
some homeschoolers are getting a little bit hung up on,
which I understand, is actually in the purpose language. And
(14:37):
it's really really important that people understand the difference in
purpose language and operative language. Operative language is the law,
that's the language that establishes the right to school choice
in our constitution. The purpose language basically answers, why are
we doing this, or we're doing this because every kid
should have access to quality education. But that is not
part of the actual law here, and so no, it
(14:58):
does not give the government any for permission to mess
with education standards in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I guess when I just heard you say that this
legislative session, the legislature could simply pass a law banning homeschooling.
That never occurred to me until right now.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think the homeschool group are missing that hugely, which
you know, I'm a homeschooler, so that that Bob and me,
they're completely ignoring that. I saw an email from them saying,
let's just be vigilant and defend the rights we currently have.
At the legislature. The legislature doesn't listen to homeschoolers. They
don't care what we say. They could absolutely restrict and
ban whatever they want next session. And the only way
(15:34):
to protect that is to put our right to homeschool
in the constitution.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
All right, we're talking about Amendment eighty with Christy Burton Brown,
also a candidate for the fourth District for the Board
of Education. This is a critically important amendment to do
exactly what Christy just said. This is going and let's
be clear, Christie, there's no and people don't often understand this.
We will pass let's see Amendment eighty passes. What we've
(15:57):
passed is essentially the skeleton framework of what this is
actually going to mean. And then they're going to pass laws,
and then there's going to be lawsuits, and then they're
going to put the meat on the bones of this amendment.
So if we're worried about things like quality education, there
are ways to address that going forward. As the meat
gets put on the bones of this entire situation.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Sure, and you know it's not what people are worried about,
they can certainly involve themselves in any discussions later that
may happen. I do think that people do need to understand,
like this is a constitutional right, like the freedom to speech,
like the freedom of religion that we have in the
US Constitution. Are there lawsuits that go on about those
rights all the time? Sure there are. You know, people
(16:36):
sue over rights to make sure they're protected. But that
doesn't change the fact that we should have those fundamental
rights present in our constitution. So that we're putting the
government on notice you can no longer interfere with our
right to school choice. Here in Colorado, every family gets
to make the best choice for their child. You can't
block access.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Christy Burton Brown is my guest, Christy Burton. I know
we're talking about the amendment. Well, why don't you give
your sales pitch of why people should vote for you
for the fourth Congressional District Board of Education seat.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Oh thanks, Mandy. I am running to give parents a
voice to empower parents. You should be able to pick
any kind of school that you want for your child,
and I don't think the state Board of Education should
block your access to doing that. So that's one of
the fights I'll engage with on the state Board. I'll
support charter schools and people's choice. So that's the kind
of voice we need. Also, I have school aged kids,
(17:26):
and no one who's going to be on the board
next year right now has school age kids, and I
think that's also an important voice we need on the board.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I agree, Christy. Thank you so much for making time
for us today.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Thank you, Mandy all Right,
Right now, we're going to talk about some ignorance lying
around about the proposed Amendment number eighty. Joining me now
is Christy Burton Brown with Advanced Colorado. Also side note,
she's also running for the Board of Education in the
fourth district. And I already voted for you or her,
So there you go. My secret ballot is out now Christy,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
First of all, thank you, Mandy, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Andrew vote, Well, we're going to talk first about the
Amendment eighty, which is a school choice amendment and Advanced
Colorado and what other organization put this forth? It just
went out of my head.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Actually we are the organization of posts. Okay, so we
have a good coalition supporting it.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Okay, great, So Advanced Colorado puts this forth. It is
a very simply worded amendment and that I think is
part of its beauty but also part of the issues
that have arisen, or at least issues that have been
seized on by people who don't want this to pass.
And I want to start by talking about where are
the money's coming from on the anti side, Kelly, because now, no,
(01:05):
let's not start there. Tell people what amendment eighty does,
and why it's important that it passes first, Let's start.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
There, sure your right, Mandy, that is actually completely simple.
Out of all the fourteen measures on your ballot, Amendment
eighty is basic. It is putting the right to school
choice we've enjoyed in Colorado for decades in our constitution
so that it's no longer at the mercy of politicians
who can change it whenever they want.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So the purpose of this is to push back against
the sort of shifting tides in Colorado because Colorado, and
I talked to my listeners about this earlier, Christy, Colorado
was really at the forefront of the school choice movement
many years ago, and because of that, we have a
vibrant charter school community. We have a vibrant home school
community with great supports, but they are outside the control
(01:48):
of the teachers union. And that's what brings us to
who's spending against Amendment eighty. Is it all coming from
teachers unions or there are other people trying to get
this defeated.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
So it is almost entirely coming from the teachers Union.
And what I think people really need to know is
that it's the National Teachers Union who's funding the majority
of the campaign, putting those ads on your TV and
lying about an amendment eighty. As of a few days ago,
the National Teachers Union had put in over four million dollars,
and the other roughly million dollars that they have has
(02:22):
come from in a state, the Colorado Teachers Union and
a couple other organizations that smaller amounts. But it really
is National Teachers Union doesn't understand our system here in Colorado,
doesn't know how popular it is, aligned to voters telling
them this is threatening public school funding when the Colorado
Fiscal note by a non partisan government agency say this
(02:43):
is zero dollar fiscal impact. This is not a funding amendment.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So one of the things I want to take a
little bit of a different tact than you just did.
I do believe that the teachers unions know how popular
this is. I do believe that they understand that we
have a vibrant charter school system and they absolutely hate it.
And even though all of the people who voted for
school choice and all of the people who have supported
charter schools in Colorado over the years, they've all moved
(03:09):
on right because they have jobs and families and they
figure it's done so we don't have to worry about
it anymore, whereas the teachers' unions never stop thinking about
how to undermine and destroy a parent's option to choose
the educational opportunity for their kid that best fits that kid,
which is at the heart of this amendment. I do
(03:30):
want to ask them, yeah, oh go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I was just going to say, and I agree with
you that their motives are very interfarious when you look
at what they do. They like to come in from
any you know, from their national high place, and come
into any state and say, doesn't matter what you guys
think of your system, right, hate it, and so we're
going to fight it.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So let me ask you about some of the criticisms
that have been levied against Amendment eighty And the biggest,
most common one that I have heard from kind of
a surprising place is from homeschoolers or charter school parents
who say, wait a minute, does this give the government
any way to sort of snaggle their way in under
the guise of quote ensuring equality education.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Sure, and I've heard that's concerned as well, and I
think it comes from a good motive, but it's misplaced
when you look at that amendment eighty. It is like
the fact is the legislature could meet tomorrow in their
next session and put any restrictions on our rights to
school choice that they want to. They don't need our
permission to do that. And that, in fact, is the
exact reason we need Amendment eighty is because you tell
(04:33):
politicians to get their hands off your rights when you
put them in the constitution, because only the voters in
Colorado can change the constitution, not the legislature. So you
know the language, the operative language, this is very simple.
It is the right to school choice. And parents always
exercise rights in Colorado on behalf of their children, so
(04:53):
that's also very clear. Even though the right to school
choice is being given to every case through twelve child,
the purpose language also says parent and have the right
to direct the education of their child. That's an general
precedent Colorado camp violate. So that's immense parental rights and
school choice rights in our constitutions.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
This to me should be a no brainer, I mean honestly,
but is it enough of an issue to get people
to say, yeah, we need to put this in our constitution.
I mean, I know that we have a large chunk
of our children for any state. We have a pretty
good chunk of our children in charter schools. I know
that out of the top ten most successful schools in
the state, a good chunk of those are charter schools
(05:32):
or private schools. I think there's only one public high
school in the top ten. So I mean, I'm just
afraid there's complacency and people saying, look, why do we
need this, why do we need this now after we
have this vibrant system already?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Sure and media, I actually think you're right that people
tend to get complacent when you have rights that are
currently protected and you're not seeing the attacks coming on
the horizon. Where we work in the education issue every
day and we see what the legislature is proposing and
that they're trying to, in their own words, attempts to
create the beginning of the end for charter schools. In Colorado,
(06:08):
we have the second highest population in the nation of
charter school students. But I think a good relation that
people can see is to property taxes. Before our property
tax spike that happened last year, there was actually an
amendment on the ballot that would have stopped whose spikes
from happening and replaced Gallagher with something effective, and voters
voted it down because they weren't feeling the effect of
(06:30):
high property taxes. And now that this year you saw
everyone in the really have said about it and wanted
to fix I hope the same thing doesn't happen to
school choice. That people are like, well, we have the rights,
we like them, why put them in the constitution. And
then two years from now we see major attacks succeed
against school choice rights, and then people are like, oh, shoot,
we should have passed it. Like we're basically saying, be proactive.
(06:52):
If you like the rights you have on school choice,
get ahead of the politicians, put them in the constitution.
Don't leave yourself at their mercy.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And one of the things that I think people don't
necessarily pay attention to is the Board of Education in Colorado.
And people may not realize that if you are in
the Boulder Valley School District, your chances of getting a
charter school approved are very very low. So the option
to go and become a charter school under the Board
of Education to get around from anti charter union controlled
(07:20):
school boards is a huge thing that has to remain.
But it's my understanding and maybe you can correct me
if you're wrong, since you're running for the Board of Education.
The makeup of the Board of Education has changed in
such a way that puts those new approvals through the
state perhaps at risk. Is that accurate?
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yesinitely, Actually all going to depend on the election this November,
because right now, even though it's a six ' to
three Democrat majority on the board, it's full of five
to four pro charter majority. But because what happened in
one of the Democrat primaries this year, it's set up
to be an anti charter board unless Yasmin Navarro and
CD eight when the Board of Ed seed if she wins,
(08:02):
there's still one Democrat on the board who's pro school choice,
in pro charter, who could still have a pro charter
majority if Yasmin wins.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
You know, Christy, it's kind of crazy to me that
this has become so politicized on the Republican and Democrats side,
because there's an organization called Democrats for School Choice. So
this didn't used to be a highly politicized issue. When
did that happen? I mean, when did we go from
everybody saying, look, we want every kid to succeed and
(08:30):
we want parents who know their kids better than anybody
else to help them succeed. And yet here we are
still having this conversation. When did that shift take place?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
You know, I think, honestly, Mandy, it has been a
shift among to your point, elected Democrats, not Democrats on
the ground when we've been pulling this issue. Their support
for school choice and keeping those rights in the constitution,
you know, a majority among all political parties. And that's
true across the nation because parents belong to all political
parties and want their kids to succeed. But I'd say
(09:00):
it about the last ten years in Colorado, the Democrat
Party has elected more people who are anti charter school,
anti choice, and you know, want to in my opinion,
they're leaving minority students, economically disadvantaged students in sailing schools
and saying you're stuck there. Too bad for you, this
is the only system you can choose, and studies actually
(09:21):
show that's what's going on. You know, when people like
that get elected to office, and so Amendment eighty gives
people on the ground, like Democrats on the street, who
don't feel that way, who want to make sure kids
from those kind of families are most vulnerable. Kids have
the option to go to a better and different school.
That's what Amendment eighty would cement and kind of put
back on these politicians that just aren't representing what people
(09:42):
in their party actually think.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, let me read this text message I just got
and people can text the Common Spirit Health text line
at five six six. And I know if you have
questions for Christy Mandy, the commercials against ad have said
that it may take money away from public education. I
know my wife voted against it for that reason. Can
you go through that?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Sure? And you know that is what the ads are saying.
They're telling people this is going to put public school
funding at risk. The problem is that's a lie. And
the way you can know that, if you're like I
don't know which campaign to believe, they read the Colorado
Blue Book that is put together by non partisan analysts
that always do a fiscal impact statement, which says, basically,
how much is this measure going to cost us? Zero dollars.
(10:23):
That's not from our campaign, that's from the Union. That
is from non partison analysts who works for the state
of Colorado, and they say there is no cost associated
with this amendment. So I think people need to get
to get the facts for themselves, because again, those ads
on TV are being funded by the National Teachers Union.
That's straight up line to voters and the union ad debates.
I've debated them a couple of times. They acknowledge at
(10:46):
the debates, well, no, it's true, this isn't a voucher.
There is actually no funding, but maybe one day there
could be. So they actually acknowledge in person that the
suggestion this causes or sorry, cost money to voters is
a lie.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, now done a really good job just conflating a
school choice with vouchers. Right, They've demonized vouchers, So now
the move is to tie those two things together as
if they are the same when they are not. Now,
I personally am pro voucher, but I think that's going
to be one of those things that you are going
to have to get a lot of buy in from
(11:19):
a lot of different people before you can even attempt
it in a state. It can't be done at the
district level. It's got to be done at the state level,
and it's going to require a lot of conversation and talking,
and you cannot inflict that on people and expect it
not to just end up in the courts for decades,
you know what I mean, It's like vouchers. I love
(11:39):
the idea, but the practicality of it, I have it
on the back burner. I just want to make sure
that parents can choose the best option for their kids.
That's all I want out of this entire.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Thing, exactly, Mandy and I think, and that's what we're
doing in Amendment eighty. You know, I think if you're
realistic about where we are in Colorado right now, and
where we are in Colorado right now is a system
that has been enjoyed and celebrated protected on a biperson
basis for decades that you get to pick the best
school for your kids. And in Colorado, if you want
to put them in private school or homeschool, then, like
my husband and I do, you've got to pay for
(12:09):
that yourself. And then the eighty wouldn't change that. But
what it does say is the government can't interfere with
those rights. The government can't say, oh, sorry, we're going
to close down the charter school in your districts because
we don't like the enrollment numbers. That's as a local
school doesn't matter the charter school succeeding. We want to
close it down right now, they can do that in Colorado.
You know, they could ban open enrollment if they want to,
(12:31):
which is actually used by a lot of families in
Colorado to cross district lines go to a better school
for their kids. Then the legislature can dam that next
session if they want to. The only way to stop
that is to put those rights in the constitution, which
is very simply what in an eighty does without impacting fundings.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
A lot of textures asking a variation of this question, Mandy,
I heard this would allow funding of private schools by
using tax money. Does it do that?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Absolutely not, absolutely not, And that is what the Union
is spending millions of dollars saying on TV to people.
And it is an absolute why. And again people can
look at the blue books take take non partisan analysts
from the state's word for it. I mean, the state
is no. The current state is no fan of any
conservative issue. If this were going to cost money to
public schools, they would say so. They put fiscal impacts
(13:19):
on every measure, and they have said the fiscal impact
is zero dollars. You cannot get less funding than a
zero dollar fiscal impact. To no, this is not a voucher.
It's not a funding program. Would not take money from
public schools and put them into private.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
This person said Mandy. The concerns I'm reading from homeschoolers
is that the amendment says quality education. The concern is
who determines what is a quality education. They're afraid that
the government will decide exactly what that means. Can you
ask Christy if there's a possibility that the government can
decide how homeschoolers are taught?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Sure, great question, And I would say right now, the
government could meet in next legislative session and put any
restriction it wanted to on homeschooling families. It doesn't need
anyone's permission or a new law to do that. That
puts us, you know, if you are a homeschooler, and
I am a homeschooler and a homeschool grad, Actually that
puts us in a very scary situation where it's a
mercy of politicians who can restrict us tomorrow if they
(14:16):
want to so. And then an ad on the other hand,
would actually put the right to homeschool your kids as
a school choice option in the Colorado Constitution. You cannot
have greater protection from the winds of politicians than putting
that right in the Colorado Constitution. The quality language that
some homeschoolers are getting a little bit hung up on,
which I understand, is actually in the purpose language. And
(14:37):
it's really really important that people understand the difference in
purpose language and operative language. Operative language is the law,
that's the language that establishes the right to school choice
in our constitution. The purpose language basically answers, why are
we doing this, or we're doing this because every kid
should have access to quality education. But that is not
part of the actual law here, and so no, it
(14:58):
does not give the government any for permission to mess
with education standards in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I guess when I just heard you say that this
legislative session, the legislature could simply pass a law banning homeschooling.
That never occurred to me until right now.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
I think the homeschool group are missing that hugely, which
you know, I'm a homeschooler, so that that Bob and me,
they're completely ignoring that. I saw an email from them saying,
let's just be vigilant and defend the rights we currently have.
At the legislature. The legislature doesn't listen to homeschoolers. They
don't care what we say. They could absolutely restrict and
ban whatever they want next session. And the only way
(15:34):
to protect that is to put our right to homeschool
in the constitution.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
All right, we're talking about Amendment eighty with Christy Burton Brown,
also a candidate for the fourth District for the Board
of Education. This is a critically important amendment to do
exactly what Christy just said. This is going and let's
be clear, Christie, there's no and people don't often understand this.
We will pass let's see Amendment eighty passes. What we've
(15:57):
passed is essentially the skeleton framework of what this is
actually going to mean. And then they're going to pass laws,
and then there's going to be lawsuits, and then they're
going to put the meat on the bones of this amendment.
So if we're worried about things like quality education, there
are ways to address that going forward. As the meat
gets put on the bones of this entire situation.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Sure, and you know it's not what people are worried about,
they can certainly involve themselves in any discussions later that
may happen. I do think that people do need to understand,
like this is a constitutional right, like the freedom to speech,
like the freedom of religion that we have in the
US Constitution. Are there lawsuits that go on about those
rights all the time? Sure there are. You know, people
(16:36):
sue over rights to make sure they're protected. But that
doesn't change the fact that we should have those fundamental
rights present in our constitution. So that we're putting the
government on notice you can no longer interfere with our
right to school choice. Here in Colorado, every family gets
to make the best choice for their child. You can't
block access.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Christy Burton Brown is my guest, Christy Burton. I know
we're talking about the amendment. Well, why don't you give
your sales pitch of why people should vote for you
for the fourth Congressional District Board of Education seat.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Oh thanks, Mandy. I am running to give parents a
voice to empower parents. You should be able to pick
any kind of school that you want for your child,
and I don't think the state Board of Education should
block your access to doing that. So that's one of
the fights I'll engage with on the state Board. I'll
support charter schools and people's choice. So that's the kind
of voice we need. Also, I have school aged kids,
(17:26):
and no one who's going to be on the board
next year right now has school age kids, and I
think that's also an important voice we need on the board.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
I agree, Christy. Thank you so much for making time
for us today.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Thank you, Mandy all Right,
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.