Voucher opponents laud Colorado judge’s ruling

DENVER — Voucher opponents cheered a state judge’s declaration Dec. 3 that Colorado’s school voucher law is unconstitutional.

Denver District Judge Joseph Meyer issued an injunction barring the voucher law from being implemented, saying it removed local school boards’ control over education, the Associated Press reported. It was the first law enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that voucher programs were acceptable.

“I see no way to interpret the voucher program statute in a way that does not run afoul of the principle of local control,” the judge wrote. “The goals of the voucher program are laudable. However, even great ideas must be implemented within the framework of the Colorado Constitution.”

The law mandated that publicly funded vouchers be offered to low-income children to help offset tuition charged by private schools.