If you check the back of your ballot, chances are you will find a ballot measure—an additional proposition or proposal that requires citizen input. This year, 17 ballot measures have something to do with education. 

Here are a few ballot initiatives that we are tracking closely:

  • In Colorado, Amendment 80 asks citizens to decide whether the state should amend its Constitution to include a school choice provision, encapsulating schools ranging from neighborhood to private to open enrollment options. It requires 55% of voters to say yes. 
  • Kentucky’s Amendment 2 asks voters to decide whether the state should fund non-public schools. Democratic Governor Andy Bashear is opposed to the proposal and has made the case that the change would take funds away from public schools. He’s cautioned against sending public funds to private schools without governmental oversight. 
  • Massachusetts voters are tasked with determining whether the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Test (MCAS) should be replaced by district-certified coursework that determines mastery of those same subject areas. We take a deeper dive into that initiative below. 
  • Amendment 1 on the Florida ballot asks voters to decide whether school board elections should become partisan or remain nonpartisan. Given a significant partisan divide in Florida, particularly around issues of education, this amendment has the potential to change education in the state, both in rhetoric and in practice.
  • Alabama’s ballot includes Amendment 1, which would transfer management of the sixteenth section and indemnity school lands to the Franklin County Board of Education. Two centuries ago, Congress expressed that property designated as “indemnity school” lands should go towards the betterment of schools, and this amendment goes towards Congressional intent and school finance.
  • Issue 1 on the Arkansas ballot calls for lottery funds to go towards scholarships for students attending vocational and technical institutions.

A number of states have ballot measures relating to higher education.

  • In New Mexico, Bond Question 3 asks citizens to decide whether the state should issue bonds that fund public higher education and tribal school improvement projects. 
  • Rhode Island’s ballot asks a similar question.
  • In Nevada, Question 1 would take oversight over state universities out of the hands of the Board of Regents and put it in the hands of the Nevadan state legislature.