In Douglas County, Colorado, a new school voucher plan will send 500 students to private and religious schools with taxpayer money. The constitutionality of the Pilot Choice Scholarship Plan may be determined in court, though, following a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State yesterday arguing that the program violates religious freedom, no aid to religion, and other provisions of the state's Constitution.
Under the terms of the agreement between district and the schools participating in the voucher program, any student who attends a parochial school must be allowed to opt out of any religious education offered there.
"Vouchers are nothing more than a backdoor way of forcing people to support religious schools," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, in a press release. "Douglas County's reckless plan threatens church-state separation and public education and should be struck down."
In addition to the district, the lawsuit also names as defendants the Colorado Board of Education and the Colorado Department of Education.
You can read the complaint here.
