As is often the case, a complex political ruse of smoke and mirrors masks the underlying problem with Douglas County’s misguided and now officially unconstitutional school voucher program.

Colorado has, very sadly, been down this road many times before. As is often the case, right-wing extremists use sketchy and sometimes outright nefarious arguments to further an underlying cause. The notion of “personhood” has been masked as a way to protect pregnant women from violent crime. Colorado’s difficult journey for gay rights was clouded by its 1992 Amendment 2 scandal. Voters were hoodwinked into approving the anti-gay-rights measure after being told it simply prevented additional, special rights and protections for homosexuals at the expense of heterosexuals. As embarrassing as these and similar measures have been, the gullibility of the public is more to blame than their culpability.

That’s the case with DougCo’s odious voucher program, struck down in June by the Colorado Supreme Court, and now on its way to request an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Like the other measures, it’s a ruse. Billed as a way to help promote school choice and improve schools, it’s nothing more than a way to provide wealthier families deep discounts at church-run private schools.

It would have allowed up to 500 students each year in the district to take the approximately $4,500 per-student state allowance to the private school of their choice, including religious schools. The state’s high court easily ruled against the program, pointing out that the state constitutional explicitly prohibits giving tax dollars to religious groups.

The conservative DougCo school board swept into office in 2011 disingenuously said the program targeted poorer families who wanted a better education than they could get at public schools but couldn’t afford it. The program garnered about 300 applications, almost all from families who were anything but poor, in a district that is anything but poor.

These and similar voucher notions consistently overlook this critical features of public schools: The state does not and should not be responsible for funding education for each resident. The state is responsible for creating a successful public schools system open to every resident. While the state is obligated to assign a per-pupil allowance for each student, it’s ludicrous to confuse that with a certified check. The money does not belong to individual students but to all taxpayers who benefit greatly by having a successful public schools system. Public education is a public service we all benefit from directly and indirectly. And in Colorado, every penny withheld from the public schools system as a whole. Less money rather than more will do nothing to solve the many problems faced by public schools in Colorado.

While it is solely the decision of the misguided Douglas County School District to appeal the state high court decision, it’s a decision that affects all of Colorado. It’s unlikely that the current school board in Aurora would ever sign onto such a self-defeating and objectionable stunt, but it’s not out of the question that a future board wouldn’t try the same scheme. Or more dangerous, that a group of state lawmakers emboldened by this development might try to impose it on every school district in Colorado.

Colorado’s top court has spoken, and done so wisely. DougCo school board members should understand that and drop the appeal. But state lawmakers and voters should protect Colorado’s public schools system by shoring up the state constitution and asking voters to explicitly prevent the draining of public education funds to any private school via any misguided voucher program. We’re looking to progressive lawmakers from Aurora and Denver to lead that charge, and so, too, is the rest of the state.

35 replies on “EDITORIAL: Defend public schools from DougCo voucher scam”

  1. I wasn’t aware that all private schools were run by church’s, you’ve opened my eyes with this statement.

    ‘Like the other measures, it’s a ruse.
    Billed as a way to help promote school choice and improve schools, it’s
    nothing more than a way to provide wealthier families deep discounts at
    church-run private schools.’

    All along I thought most private schools were owned and operated by private enterprise, but now I know, since the Aurora Sentinel has put forth their views.

    You really should get your head out of your butt and realize that unions and their ilk have ruined public education in this country. Charter schools are a way out of the ruin.

          1. I don’t believe you should bring Jesus’ name into a sarcastic statement, find another way to make your point. You, apparently, adore unions, I do not. They are bastions of poor quality work, protectors of the same, and absolutely useless in the private sector. where profits make or break you.

          2. I think Jesus and His name will survive fine without your help. You must have been a union member at some point to have such deep insights about them.

          3. I thought so! goo man is just another religious right clown sitting on his pious butt in which his head is buried. goo man is a bastion of wing nut lunacy.

    2. This has nothing to do with charter schools. Right-wingers want the ability to withdraw “their share” of taxes from the public coffers and use the funds to pay for a private, religious school education. The use of public money for religious purposes is a no-no.

      1. The money should follow the child. Of course it has to do with charter schools, they are private, you’ve been poisoned to believe ALL schools other than public union-run schools are RELIGIOUS, they are NOT.

        1. Yeah! Everyone’s been brainwashed and the goo man has all the answers! Oh well! This stupid comment is just another example of his idiotic wing ding bromides.

    3. Charter schools aren’t private, they are public. If you read the Colorado Supreme Court decision in this case, you would know that 93% of all students receiving the vouchers enrolled in religious schools, and 119 of the 120 high school students used their vouchers for religious schools.

      1. Let’s see, with that calculation, only ONE student attends a public Charter school that isn’t religious, wonder they can stay open.

        1. I’ll go slower this time: Charter. Schools. Are. Not. Private. So. Vouchers. Would. Not. Be. Used. At. Charter. Schools. One high school student from Douglas County used a voucher to go to a non-religious private school, which could have been located anywhere and which presumably had other students from other places. One hundred nineteen students from Douglas County used taxpayer-funded vouchers to go to religious schools.

          1. EDITORIAL: Defend public schools from DougCo voucher scam
            This is the headline to the story. ‘defend public schools’ If public schooling is so good, why do so many want to go to charter schools? In Colorado, perhaps, students aren’t as driven to get out of public schools, as they are in more urban, big city systems. The ONLY dog in this witch-hunt are the Teachers Unions, admit that.

          2. 1. CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
            2. The ONLY dog in this witch-hunt is public education. The vast majority of students in this country (even in DougCo) go to public schools. When you take the tax money away from the public schools and give it to religious schools, that (a) makes the public schools weaker and (b) makes the churches richer. Maybe you should admit that the ONLY dogs in this situation are the churches who can’t persuade parents that their product is worth buying without tax-funded subsidies.

          3. I think you might be wasting your time. goo boy doesn’t understand this. You also forgot the local church congregations, who feel these schools are not worth funding.

          5. I emailed the organization for charter schools in Colorado. I was told that indeed, ALL charter schools are public schools and mixing education money with religion is prohibited, therefore, since charter schools are public schools, where did the subject of religion come into this conversation? Vouchers? Poor overall education in public schools? Many want out of the main stream public schools, they want their children educated, not indoctrinated.

          6. Hint: You helped start it!
            See my comment, below, from days ago:

            This has nothing to do with charter schools. Right-wingers want the ability to withdraw “their share” of taxes from the public coffers and use the funds to pay for a private, religious school education. The use of public money for religious purposes is a no-no.

    4. Speaking of heads stuck in butts, it would appear the goo man’s head is buried in his butt and is long since dead.

      “Charters are the way out of ruin”. Right! I can’t stop laughing!

  2. “It would have allowed up to 500 students each year in the district to take the approximately $4,500 per-student state allowance to the private school of their choice,”
    BTW, this is less than HALF of what the Government Schools would get for each student.

  3. Abolish the Government School System. Give the 10k a year in the form of a tax credit to be used on their children’s education including charter schools, religious schools or home school. That is if you truly care about educating kids.

  4. “The state does not and should not be responsible for funding education for each resident. ”
    What are you talking about??? Each school gets a specific amount of money PER STUDENT from the state. Each kids education is funded by the state (AKA tax payers). It seems you are more for propping up a failing government school system rather than educating children.

    1. “The money does not belong to individual students but to all taxpayers who benefit greatly by having a successful public schools system. ”
      Taxpayers benefit from having educated citizens. The Government schools have failed at that.

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  5. Sorta ironic Karl Marx and his whole views of religion is the opium of the people, he felt it was just he ruling class trying to control the masses. Now the most socialist program in America is fighting tooth and nail to keeps its funding away from religious control. Very Marxist of you public school, keep it to the roots.

  6. PERFECT EXAMPLE of a vicious enraged foaming at the mouth rabid dog liberal that can’t stand for other people to have a different opinion….labels millions of people he don’t even know extremist…literally crapping his pants with hatred writing this story. He writes this story like his view is absolutely correct and if you don’t agree YOUR the P.O.S. This is your vicious racist liberals.

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