Second federal court rules Colorado’s universal preschool funding program violates the Constitution
A federal court in Colorado ruled this week that the state violated the law by excluding Catholic preschools from its new universal preschool (UPK) program based on their consideration of religious affiliation in enrollment decisions.
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The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, involved two Catholic preschools and a Catholic family who sought to prevent the Department of Early Childhood from excluding them from the UPK program. Despite providing funding for 15 hours per week of free preschool to over 40,000 families attending private, public, and faith-based preschools across Colorado in its first year, the Department denied this benefit to families of children attending St. Mary’s and St. Bernadette’s Catholic preschools because these schools ask families to share their beliefs.
Colorado’s exclusion of the schools
In a detailed 101-page opinion, the court stated that Colorado’s exclusion of the schools “created an unworkable scheme that breaches the appropriate limits on state power.” The court found that the state had “provided no compelling interest” for excluding Catholic preschools based on their religious criteria for enrollment and operations. This ruling follows a similar decision by another federal judge in Denver last year, which also ruled against the state in a case brought by a different religious preschool with comparable claims. This decision marks another setback for Colorado’s challenged UPK program.
“Of course, a Catholic school shouldn’t be punished for caring about its students’ religion,” said Nick Reaves, counsel at Becket. “Colorado richly deserves this injunction, as it did the earlier one.”
The comprehensive nature of the court’s ruling opens the possibility for an appeal by any party. Any appeal would be directed to the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
