Colorado State Bd of Ed v. Taxpayer for Public Ed

Litigation: These lawsuits, consolidated by the courts in their considerations, challenged the charter school-funded voucher program created by the public school district board of Douglas County, Colorado, a well-performing school district in an upscale community near Denver. The program adopted on March 15, 2011, used charter school funding to provide grants – or vouchers – to families to access private schools. The board assumed a position of responsibility for the education of all children residentially assigned to their district and reasoned that if, for any reason, a child needed to be educated in a school or setting outside of one of their district schools, then they should help parents access that education for their child. Opposed to educational choice program: ACLU, ACLU-Colorado, American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Anti-Defamation League, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Colorado Education Association, Disciples Justice Action Network, Education Law Center, Equal Partners In Faith, Hadassah-The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Hindu American Foundation, Jewish Social Policy Action Network, National Educators Association, Union for Reform Judaism, Vision Home & Community, Women of Reform Judaism In support: Americans Defending Freedom, Arizona-Nevada-Ohio-Utah-Wisconsin, American Association of Christian Schools, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Catholic Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado, and Colorado Legislators, Christian Legal Society, Foundation for Excellence in Education, Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Goldwater Institute, Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options, Independence Institute, Institute for Justice, Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Oklahoma, Pacific Legal Foundation, United States Senator Cory Gardner, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Outcomes: The trial court ruled against the voucher program on August 12, 2011 (City and County of Denver District Court Nos. 11CV4424 & 11CV4427). Colorado’s Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in favor of the voucher program on February 28, 2013 (Taxpayers for Pub. Ed., v. Douglas County Sch. Dist., 2013 COA 20, 356 P.3d 833, (Colo.App.Div. 4 2013)). On June 29, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against the voucher program in a 3-3-1 split vote (Taxpayers for Pub. Ed., v. Douglas County Sch. Dist., 351 P.3d 461 (Colo. 2015), 2015 CO 50. On June 29, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to accept the case (hearing no oral argument and accepting no further briefings in this case) and at the same time delivered this ruling: “The petitions for writs of certiorari are granted. The judgments are vacated, and the cases are remanded to the Supreme Court of Colorado for further consideration in light of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 582 U. S. ___ (2017).” Douglas County School District v. Taxpayers for Public Education, Docket No. 15-557, Vide 15-556, 15-558 (2017). During the pendency of litigation, the national teachers’ unions and their supporters mounted a strong campaign to change the members of the Douglas County school board that had enacted the voucher program. They were successful in achieving a majority of seats on the board. As a result, the school board rescinded the Douglas County school choice program and directed its counsel to inform the court that there was nothing left to litigate. The Colorado Supreme Court dismissed the case as moot on January 25, 2018 (Taxpayers for Pub. Ed., v. Douglas County Sch. Dist., Co. Supreme Ct Case No: 2013SC233).

Why it Matters: For a thorough review of what happened in Douglas County, see our blog post.

Effects: Colorado students continue to be limited in education to public school options only.