Where Colorado Stands on School Choice in October 2026, in Plain English

Ask ten Colorado parents whether the state "has school choice" and you'll get ten answers. Some say yes, because their kids open-enrolled across district lines or go to a charter school. Some say no, because there's no voucher or education savings account. Both groups are describing something real. Here is where Colorado actually stands as of October 31, 2026, with the official record behind each point. Our Colorado homeschool options guide keeps every source in one place, and this is the short version for busy parents.

The short answer

• Colorado has broad public school choice: tuition-free open enrollment across districts, charter schools, online schools, innovation schools and free preschool hours.
• Colorado has no state voucher, no education savings account (ESA) and no tax credit scholarship program.
• The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) says there is no funding available for homeschooling.
• Voters turned down Amendment 80, a constitutional "right to school choice," in November 2024.
• Colorado is on the IRS list of states taking part in the new federal scholarship tax credit, which starts January 1, 2027.

What exists: public school choice

Under C.R.S. 22-36-101 (in Title 22 of the Colorado Revised Statutes), every district must let its own students apply to particular schools and programs, and must let students from other Colorado districts enroll without paying tuition. A district can say no only for reasons the law lists, such as no space or staff, or a program the student doesn't qualify for.

The nonpartisan Legislative Council Staff's January 2026 issue brief, School Choice in Colorado, covers the rest. Charter schools are tuition-free public schools run under a contract with a school district or the state Charter School Institute. Districts and the Institute can run online schools, including multi-district online schools that serve students from anywhere in the state.

Colorado also offers ten hours a week of free preschool in the year before kindergarten, as written in the 2024 statutes, subject to provider capacity. And high school students enrolled in a district, charter school or BOCES can take college classes with tuition paid by the school, through concurrent enrollment.

What doesn't exist

No voucher. No ESA. No tax credit scholarship. No state grant, credit or deduction for homeschool costs that we could find. CDE's FAQ for homeschool families puts it in one line: "At the time of this update, there is no funding available." The Legislative Council Staff brief describes private schools and homeschools as non-public education that receives no public funding, and notes that the Colorado Constitution bars public money for schools run by a church or sectarian denomination (article IX, section 7).

What failed

• Amendment 80 (November 5, 2024). It would have put a right to school choice, naming neighborhood, charter and private schools, home schooling, open enrollment and future innovations, into the state constitution. It needed 55%. The Secretary of State's official abstract shows 1,507,236 yes (49.3%) and 1,548,679 no (50.7%).
• HCR24-1003, a legislative referral on the same idea, was postponed indefinitely 11–0 in a House committee on April 15, 2024.
• SR25-009, a Senate resolution on "the necessity of school choice in Colorado," was postponed indefinitely 3–2 in committee on May 1, 2025.
• HB26-1292 would have required Colorado, if it joined the federal tax credit, to list every eligible scholarship granting organization and put nondiscrimination and disability rules on schools receiving that money. The House Education Committee postponed it indefinitely 11–0 on April 30, 2026.

Further back, Douglas County's 2011 voucher pilot was held unconstitutional by a plurality of the Colorado Supreme Court in 2015, a judgment the U.S. Supreme Court vacated in 2017. We cover that case and Amendment 80 in their own articles.

What passed, and what's coming

The 2026 bill that matters most to homeschoolers wasn't a choice bill at all. SB26-023, the 2026 School Finance Act, signed May 28, 2026, set new rules for district, charter and BOCES part-time programs for homeschool students. Among them: those programs can't pay for a family's private activities or purchases.

On the federal side, the Colorado Department of Revenue says Colorado notified the IRS that it will take part in the federal scholarship tax credit for tax year 2027, and the IRS list of participating states includes Colorado as of October 22, 2026. Scholarship granting organizations apply to be on Colorado's list by November 30, 2026, and the state sends its list to the IRS by January 1, 2027.

The State Board of Education must adopt rules by December 31, 2026 for certifying part-time programs that operate outside their own district, starting with 2027–28. The November 3, 2026 ballot has no school choice measure on it. As of October 31, 2026, we found no official notice of school choice bills for the 2027 session. We won't guess. When bills are filed, they'll show up on the General Assembly's site.

What this means if you homeschool

Nothing in Colorado's choice column pays for your curriculum, tutoring or therapy today. The federal credit is a tax break for donors, and whether any Colorado scholarship granting organization will help with homeschool costs depends on federal rules and on each organization. That isn't settled.

What you can use right now is mostly part-time: classes at a public school, a district or charter part-time program for homeschool students, sports and activities at a public school, and concurrent enrollment arranged through a district, charter school or BOCES. One line to remember: if your child enrolls full time in a charter, online or out-of-district school, your child becomes a public school student and is no longer homeschooling.

One family sorting it out

The Delgados homeschool two kids on the edge of Grand Junction. At a park day, a friend said Colorado "voted in school choice" a couple of years ago. Mom checked the Secretary of State's results that night and found the opposite: Amendment 80 failed. Then she read CDE's homeschool FAQ and found the "no funding available" line. What did fit was closer to home. Their district lets homeschool students take a class at the middle school, and their oldest wanted band. They kept their curriculum budget as it was, filed their notice of intent for the year, and called the school about band.

(A composite example — names and details are illustrative, drawn from situations homeschool families commonly describe.)

Your school choice checklist

• Don't budget for state money that doesn't exist. Colorado has no ESA, voucher or homeschool funding.
• Keep your notice of intent current and keep a copy. Part-time programs must now collect one.
• Ask your district and local charter schools what part-time options they offer for 2026–27 and 2027–28.
• Watch the Department of Revenue for Colorado's scholarship granting organization list in early 2027, and ask any organization directly what its scholarships cover.
• Find curriculum, tutors and therapists in our vendor directory, and watch dates on our education calendar.
• Trade notes with other Colorado families in our community.

My Learning Source is an independent marketplace and is not affiliated with the Colorado Department of Education, the Colorado General Assembly, the Office of the Governor, the Colorado Department of Revenue, the Colorado Secretary of State, the IRS or any scholarship granting organization. Laws and programs change — confirm details with the agency involved before you act. Family examples are composites, not real individuals.