In Colorado, educational freedom is fenced in, corralled by liberals who want to limit your choices and ignore the deep shortcomings of public schools – particularly in communities of color. 

Gov. Jared Polis likes to tout his education reform bona fides, which are real. But he increasingly toes the line of traditional Democrats who are happy to give you freedom to choose the schools they prefer you choose. 

A federal judge recently put a truth test to the Polis administration’s phony rhetoric on school choice and the state’s new universal preschool program. Of the nearly 2,000 programs receiving state preschool funding, 40 are faith-based.

And one was so skeptical they could maintain their funding they sued in federal court to proactively protect their participation in the program. 

The Darren Patterson Christian Academy is out and proud about its Christian faith tenets. Employees must be born-again Christians, for example, and students and faculty can use only the bathrooms and pronouns appropriate for the gender they were born with. 

Though it was made eligible for the state preschool program, it questioned whether it might suddenly be kicked out once state authorities focused on the reality of how it operates. So, the academy proactively sued the state in federal court asserting Colorado would violate its First Amendment rights if it were excluded. 

A federal district court judge agreed, and now the academy’s preschool program is protected. The judge specifically called out a Governor’s Office public statement saying participants in the program “shouldn’t discriminate against anyone” – which is lefty code for “we don’t like this Christian school’s practices.”

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So to the Colorado left, parental freedom is great unless you pick a school that the left doesn’t like. That’s true for the universal preschool program as it is for kids in Colorado’s K-12 schools. 

This was driven home by libertarian journalist John Stossel, who did a largely admiring interview with Polis, but pushed back on the governor about why Colorado is lagging a number of other states in school choice. Why? Because the state limits your choices to public-sector schools. 

In the post-pandemic world, where parents are more aware of what kids aren’t learning and are asserting their fundamental duty to direct their children’s education, Coloradans – particularly those of limited means – deserve more options.

That’s the point made by Cory DeAngelis, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children – and the nation’s top school-choice evangelist –  at a weekend Parents’ Rights Summit held by Advance Colorado (Disclosure:  I advise Advance Colorado).

DeAngelis pointed out more states are embracing the grassroots groundswell for universal school choice, including the ability to receive state funding to choose a non-public or religious school. He also showed how his group is helping to elect candidates across the country who back this bold freedom agenda – and tossed out 40 anti-school-choice candidates. 

It’s becoming the civil rights issue of our time. 

Here’s why: Liberals are fond of talking about income disparity but are less enthusiastic about talking about educational disparity (unless the conversation is about a faster conveyor belt of accountability- free cash for unionized schools).

Test scores post-COVID not only show lost learning, but also persistent gaps between socioeconomic and racial groups. For example, data released by the state in August show Black and Hispanic students scoring 24 to 30 points below White and Asian students. And kids in poverty are scoring 30 points behind the rest of the pack.

This is unacceptable. 

What if Colorado followed the lead of other states and created a true education marketplace, funding students instead of systems? What if every Colorado kid had a backpack loaded with school bucks they could take to better schools whether public, private or religious?   

The caterwauling response from the education crowd to this freedom agenda has not changed in decades. Throw the idea of really opening the gates and setting the school captives free, and the teacher unions tear their clothes in grief. 

Why?

When families vote with their feet, their dissatisfaction with the shortcomings of the system the education establishment presides over are laid bare. To attract and keep students in their schools, they must then work to foster excellence. This competition today works better than our current limited public-choice system, and it would produce even greater gains under universal school choice.

Liberals can’t claim they want to create real opportunity for Colorado’s urban youth if they continue to stand in the schoolhouse door and prevent families from being empowered to escape failing schools.

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.