Colorado's voucher program is gearing up

10/28/03 -- More than 100 private schools have submitted applications to participate in Colorado's new school voucher program -- and nearly two-thirds already have been accepted.

Although vouchers won't be available until next fall, many educators are watching the program's implementation with interest. Under state law, vouchers eventually could be available to as many as 20,000 students, making it the nation's largest voucher program.

Approval of the first private school applications means "we've just passed one of the major milestones" to implementing the program, says Colorado Commissioner of Education William J. Moloney. "There is no lack of private schools that will be participating."

Under what's titled the Colorado Opportunity Contract Pilot Program, state officials plan to provide vouchers worth upwards of 85 percent of per-pupil state aid (which ranges between $5,000 to $6,000) to low-income, low-achieving students in 11 school systems with eight or more low-performing schools. The state's largest and most urban school systems, including Denver and Colorado Springs, are among those affected.

The school systems are charged with administering the program's implementation, and since early October, local officials have been reviewing applications from private and religious schools seeking access to voucher funds.

At least 70 private schools already have been accepted into the program, with a number of schools winning approval to accept students from more than one school system.

Meanwhile, nearly 60 applications have been rejected statewide -- the majority by Adams County School District 40 in Westminster, where school officials took a harder line than most school systems against private schools that did not document access for students with disabilities or compliance with health and fire safety regulations.

In one instance, an application was reportedly rejected because the religious school's application implied it would violate antidiscrimination laws by barring gay and lesbian students from the school.

Opponents of the program claim vouchers will divert needed resources from public education. In the first year of the program, 3,300 students will be eligible for vouchers, with the number of eligible students increasing over the next few years.

The Colorado Education Association estimates that as much as $193.5 million in state education funds could be diverted into private schools if the program expands to its cap of 20,000 students.

Concerned about the financial and political impact of vouchers, a coalition of education, civil rights, and religious groups have filed a lawsuit to block the new law.

The suit contends the voucher program, among other things, violates the state constitution by interfering with local control by school boards, diverts public money to support religion, and undermines public education. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 12.

Voucher advocates have been championing a state voucher plan for more than a decade. In the 1990s, they twice tried to push through statewide ballot initiatives for vouchers -- only to see voters handily defeat them at the polls.

But, according to Todd Ziebarth, a policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States, Colorado policymakers have become increasingly enamored with school choice options. The state supports a generous open-enrollment policy and a sizable number of charter schools.

Once Republicans took control of the state legislature, along with the governor's mansion, voucher supporters had the political muscle to push through voucher legislation earlier this year.

Its passage made it the first major voucher program since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that a voucher program may be permissible under the U.S. Constitution.

With the bill supported by so many key state leaders, some education groups reportedly found themselves in a politically awkward position. A no-holds-barred fight against vouchers risked alienating the state leadership and costing voucher opponents any influence over the final legislation.

The Colorado Association of School Boards (CASB), for example, opposed vouchers but still "worked to get [the bill] written in a way that was important for the integrity of the public school system," says CASB Associate Executive Director Jane Urschel. CASB now has a seat on a state advisory board writing guidelines for implementing the program.

Commissioner Maloney, who supports the voucher program, says opposition to vouchers is just playing into the hands of critics of public education. That stance makes educators appear more interested in protecting the status quo than in creating new opportunities for students seeking access to a quality education.

Meanwhile, local school officials are gearing up for the next phase of the implementation process. By Dec. 1, parents in the participating school systems must be notified if their children are eligible for vouchers.

At the same time, some school officials are complaining about hidden administrative costs in the implementation process. Glen Gustafson, chief financial officer with Colorado Springs School District 11, estimates his district could spend upwards of $30,000 to implement the program this year -- when voucher money is not yet available.

Other school systems have put their implementation costs at $5,000 to $12,000.

Although not a vast sum, Gustafson says school systems in today's fiscal environment cannot afford yet another unfunded mandate.

"It's really quite ridiculous," he says. "The state doesn't understand why we can't do this faster, yet there's no funding to help us."

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Reproduced with permission from the 2003 issue of School Board News. Copyright © 2003, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.