Attack on Colo. county's voucher program thwarted
Appeals court says Douglas County program constitutional because it is ‘neutral toward religion’
Friday, Mar 1, 2013
Attorney sound bite: Gregory Baylor
DENVER — The Colorado Court of Appeals Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a Douglas County voucher program that pays for students who attend “private school partners” rather than government-run schools.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and Colorado Springs allied attorney Stuart Lark filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of the Association of Christian Schools International, the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, Shepherd of the Hills Christian School, Southeast Christian School, and Valor Christian High School in opposition to a lawsuit that attacked the voucher program because it allows some private religious schools to participate.
“School districts should favor educational choices for parents and their children,” said Lark, one of nearly 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The Court of Appeals rightly found that the Choice Scholarship Program does this in a manner that respects both the private religious choices of Colorado families and our country’s commitment to religious liberty. It is perfectly constitutional for religious schools to participate in the program when they meet all other requirements.”
Opponents of the program filed the suit Taxpayers for Public Education v. Douglas County School District after the school district implemented the program to allow for greater parental choice. The lawsuit claimed that the inclusion of religious schools in the program violates state constitutional provisions governing the relationship between church and state. In a lengthy opinion, the Colorado Court of Appeals disagreed.
“The CSP is neutral toward religion,” the court wrote, “and funds make their way to private schools with religious affiliation by means of personal choices of students’ parents.”
“Neither the U.S. nor the Colorado constitutions allow a school that meets all other qualifications to be kept out of a religiously neutral program solely because the school’s core values are grounded in religious convictions,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “These schools provide an excellent education that meets all state standards. It is good that they will continue to be welcomed into voucher programs like this one so that students, the community, and the government will all benefit.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and Colorado Springs allied attorney Stuart Lark filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on behalf of the Association of Christian Schools International, the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, Shepherd of the Hills Christian School, Southeast Christian School, and Valor Christian High School in opposition to a lawsuit that attacked the voucher program because it allows some private religious schools to participate.
“School districts should favor educational choices for parents and their children,” said Lark, one of nearly 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. “The Court of Appeals rightly found that the Choice Scholarship Program does this in a manner that respects both the private religious choices of Colorado families and our country’s commitment to religious liberty. It is perfectly constitutional for religious schools to participate in the program when they meet all other requirements.”
Opponents of the program filed the suit Taxpayers for Public Education v. Douglas County School District after the school district implemented the program to allow for greater parental choice. The lawsuit claimed that the inclusion of religious schools in the program violates state constitutional provisions governing the relationship between church and state. In a lengthy opinion, the Colorado Court of Appeals disagreed.
“The CSP is neutral toward religion,” the court wrote, “and funds make their way to private schools with religious affiliation by means of personal choices of students’ parents.”
“Neither the U.S. nor the Colorado constitutions allow a school that meets all other qualifications to be kept out of a religiously neutral program solely because the school’s core values are grounded in religious convictions,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “These schools provide an excellent education that meets all state standards. It is good that they will continue to be welcomed into voucher programs like this one so that students, the community, and the government will all benefit.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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