Colorado Supreme Court to hear Dougco voucher case arguments in December

The state’s highest court will hear oral arguments on the Douglas County School District’s voucher program next month.

Arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court, three years in the making, will be at 1:30 p.m., Dec. 10, the Lone Tree Voice reported.

The voucher plan, which has been on hold since 2011 pending litigation, would allow Douglas County students to use public tax dollars to enroll in private — and often religious — schools.

Plaintiffs, who oppose the voucher program, believe the tuition credits would siphon away much-needed revenue from public schools and subsidize religious institutions. In effect, the program is unconstitutional, lawyers argued in a brief filed late last spring with the Colorado Supreme Court.

The suburban school district, in a pair of briefs, fired back that the voucher program provides parents with their constitutionally-protect control over their student’s education. Further, lawyers argued, Colorado’s “deep constitutional roots of local control” allows Douglas County to use tax dollars any way the board of education there sees fit.