12/16/03 -- The Colorado voucher program has been declared unconstitutional because it usurps the authority of local school boards, Denver District Judge Joseph E. Meyer ruled Dec. 3.
In issuing an injunction barring implementation of the voucher law, Meyer wrote, "I see no way to interpret the voucher program statute in a way that does not run afoul of the principle of local control."
The Colorado program, enacted in April, is the first voucher program in the nation since the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Cleveland's voucher program last year.
A coalition of teacher unions, religious groups, and education organizations filed a suit in May challenging the constitutionality of the Colorado law because it called for the use of state funds to support religious schools. They argued that the voucher law would undermine public education by siphoning off students and dollars.
The court ruling didn't address the religious freedom issues in the original lawsuit. The plaintiffs sought a quick injunction, so they limited their arguments to two issues: local control and the ban in the state constitution on "special legislation" aimed at benefiting a small group. The judge rejected the special legislation claim, and the other issues are still pending.
One of the plaintiffs, the Colorado Education Association, said the decision "reinforces our long-held belief that our statewide system of public education is rightly founded on the principle of local control."
Both Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar and the Institute for Justice, a pro-voucher public interest law firm that supported the state in the voucher suit, filed appeals Dec. 9 in the state Supreme Court.
The law called for vouchers worth about $4,500 to be made available to low-income K-12 students in districts with eight or more schools that received low or unsatisfactory academic performance rates by the state.
Eleven school districts met that criteria, including Denver and Colorado Springs. The law allows other districts to participate on a voluntary basis, but none have opted to do so.
The program was to start next fall. But a few districts, including Commerce City, Westminster, and Northglenn-Thornton, had already sent letters to parents of eligible children telling them about the program, the Denver Post reports. And 137 private schools applied to participate in the voucher program in the 11 districts.
State budget officials had estimated that once the program is fully operational -- which was to happen in 2007 -- as many as 20,000 students could participate and the 11 districts would lose $90 million a year in state revenue.