Last week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark ruling invalidating the use of state constitutional “Blaine Amendments” to bar faith-based schools from participating in K-12 scholarship programs. That ruling removes the largest legal impediment to private school choice in three dozen states and throws open the doors of opportunity for millions of students nationwide.
But while the historic decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue hinged on a scholarship program in Montana, it also represented the finale of a long and bloody fight right here in Colorado.
Three years ago, almost to the day, what would become one of the most pivotal school board races in America was taking shape in Douglas County. At the core of that election was Douglas County School District’s first-of-its-kind local K-12 private school choice program, which would have allowed up to 500 students to attend an approved private school of their choosing with a district-funded scholarship.