The Education Reform Bulletin
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Another Victory for School Choice

3/1/2013

0 Comments

 
Yesterday, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled 2-to-1 to lift the injunction that halted the Douglas County Schools Choice Scholarship program. This is a huge victory for parents and students. Launched in 2011, the pilot program allows parents to take a portion of per-pupil revenue and use it toward the private school of their choice.  500 families were selected through a lottery to participate and awarded about $4,500 per child, totaling $300,000 in public funds.
This was a groundbreaking program and was unanimously approved by the district’s school board. Aside from providing the opportunity for parents to direct the course of their child’s education and to ensure that education fit their child’s needs, the program actually provides financially benefits to the district, as well. Douglas County Schools would have an extra 25 percent of available funds from participating in the program to spend on those children who remain in their schools.

Unfortunately, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a group called the Taxpayers for Public Education quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the program arguing that it was unconstitutional because many parents had chosen to use the scholarship to send their children to Christian schools. They claimed that this violated what is known as the Blaine Amendment in the state’s constitution that forbids direct government aid to educational institutions with religious affiliations.

Douglas County Schools argued that the program was not in violation of this amendment because the money was sent directly to the parents, who then chose what school their child would attend and paid the institution themselves – not the district.

Initially, District Court Judge Michael Martinez sided for the plaintiffs. The Court of Appeals found, however, that the plaintiffs “failed to carry their burden of proving the unconstitutionality of the CSP beyond a reasonable doubt” and that they lack standing to make their case.

This is a victory for all of the families involved in the program and those who may now have the opportunity to participate. I was lucky to meet a few of these families during the summer of 2011 while interning at the Independence Institute’s Education Policy Center, which was instrumental in creating and implementing this program.

Although the ALCU and the Taxpayers for Public Education say they are not done fighting, nor are Douglas County Schools, the scholarship families and all school choice advocates. For now though, I am so excited to know that these families now have a restored hope for their children’s educations.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    2012 Election
    Achievement Gap
    Amendment 66
    Barack Obama
    Charter Schools
    Chicago Public Schools
    Chicago Teachers Union
    Colorado General Assembly
    Colorado Public Schools
    Common Core
    Cory Booker
    D.C. Public Schools
    Douglas County School District
    Education Funding
    Education Nation
    Education Reform
    Jefferson County School District
    Michelle Rhee
    Mitt Romney
    Quality Education
    Race To The Top
    School Choice
    School Leaders
    School Safety
    Student Achievement
    StudentsFirst
    Teachers Unions
    The Friedman Foundation
    TIME Collaborative
    US Dept Of Education
    Vouchers

    RSS Feed

    Devan Crean

    I graduated from the University of Denver with a B.A. in History (minor in Political Science) and the University of Wyoming with a Master of Public Administration. I am an experienced copywriter and content manager. I am also a former intern/research associate for the Education Policy Center at the Independence Institute in Denver, Colorado and have previously blogged for National School Choice Week.

Proudly powered by Weebly