A school voucher program goes before the Colorado Supreme Court next month, three years after a judge first suspended the district-based pilot program, according to The Lone Tree Voice.
A Denver district judge ruled in 2011 that the Douglas County school district’s Choice Scholarship Program was unconstitutional, but then a state appeals court reversed the decision in 2012.
The program would grant students tax-payer funded vouchers they can use toward tuition at a private school of their choice—including religious schools.
This case is unique from other voucher lawsuits because a school district created the program rather than the state legislature, according to The Denver Post.
A decision from the Supreme Court would help bring closure to a three-year legal battle that began when a newly elected conservative school board voted to implement the Choice Scholarship Program, which would offer private school vouchers to about 500 public school students. The school district would give each student $4,575 to pay tuition costs at private schools under the program."
For perspective on the scale of the suspended voucher program, Douglas County schools serves about 67,000 students and its budget was $696 million for the 2013-14 school year.
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Dec. 10, but it could take months for the state supreme court to release its decision.
Related: School Vouchers: Indiana Enrollment Soars, Achievement Drags in Louisiana