Colorado to become first state with public school vouchers sinc

DENVER -- Colorado will soon become the first state with public school vouchers since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declared such programs constitutional.

Republican Gov. Bill Owens is expected to sign a bill into law this month that will allow public schools to pay private or religious schools to educate low-income children. Other states, including Texas and Louisiana, are considering similar plans.

Owens, who campaigned for vouchers as a legislator, said approval was a milestone.

"It sends a powerful message that our education system exists for one simple reason, to provide access to a quality education for every child," he said.

A goal of conservatives for years, vouchers were twice rejected by Colorado voters. But the bill was pushed through the legislature after Republicans won control in November's elections, with supporters saying it will give poor students a better education and force public schools to improve.

Democratic lawmakers say the voucher program could cost public schools as much as $200 million in state aid based on the number of students.

The Colorado Education Association, representing 36,000 teachers, is considering a legal challenge. It says the bill may violate guarantees against giving tax dollars to religious institutions or any school not under control of the state.

"The legislature is blatantly ignoring both the Constitution of the state of Colorado and the express wishes of the voters," CEA President Ron Brady said.

Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that school voucher programs are constitutional if they provide parents a choice among a range of religious and secular schools. The court endorsed a pilot program in Cleveland under which parents may use a tax-supported education stipend to move their kids out one of the nation's worst-rated public school systems.

The issue is still a source of turmoil within various state courts, even as lawmakers in as many as 20 states consider school voucher legislation, according to the Education Commission of the States in Denver. Last year, 24 states studied the issue but none enacted a law.

Voucher programs have been around for more than a decade.

A program in Milwaukee, which was the nation's first when it began in 1990, has more than 10,800 students in 103 private schools. The Cleveland program, started in 1996, gives preference to low-income families who want to send their children to private schools or nearby public schools.

A 1999 Florida law lets students at struggling public schools to get a voucher to attend private schools. A judge ruled the law violates the Florida Constitution because it allows public money to aid religious schools. The ruling has been appealed.

In the meantime, Texas legislators are debating a bill that would allocate government money to low-income parents in certain school districts to transfer their children from public to private schools.

During an impromptu meeting Thursday, the House Public Education Committee hastily passed legislation that would allocate government money to low-income parents in certain school districts to transfer their children from public to private schools. The bill was referred to the House Calendar Committee, which sets a date for a full vote on the measure.

Louisiana legislators are reviewing several bills, including a proposal from GOP Gov. Mike Foster to provide vouchers to low-income children whose schools are deemed to be failing.

Colorado's plan gained steam after the state began rating schools two years ago. The rating system allows the state to close schools that continue to fail, but there were few options for the students.

The new law will apply to children in kindergarten through 12th grade who are eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches. It also will allow a school district to provide vouchers to qualifying children if at least eight of its schools received a low or unsatisfactory academic performance ratings.

The program was limited to low-income children who could not afford a private school.

Jane Urschel, executive vice president of the Colorado Association of School Boards, said the success of voucher programs in other states is mixed. She said some students continue to have problems after they transfer.

Voucher programs also are expected to gain popularity as more states adopt programs that test students as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, said Kathy Christie, a policy analyst with the Education Commission on the States.

Under the federal law, states must devise and offer tests in reading and mathematics for every child each year in grades three through eight, beginning in fall 2005.

"People began saying it was unacceptable to keep students in schools that are dysfunctional," she said. "That's exactly what happened in Colorado."

------

On the Net:

Education Department: http://www.nclb.gov

RAND: http://www.rand.org/education

Center on Education Policy: http://www.ctredpol.org

Children First America: http://www.childrenfirstamerica.org