The lawsuit filed on behalf of Education ReEnvisioned and Riverstone Academy, a Christian school, asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to declare the statewide ban on funding for religious schools unconstitutional.
The suit comes after the Colorado Department of Education denied an attempt by ReEnvisioned to obtain funding for Riverstone.
“Colorado law requires the state to unconstitutionally discriminate on the basis of religion when awarding government contracts,” the complaint argues. “The state constitution and statutes prohibit school districts and BOCES [Board of Cooperative Educational Services] from contracting with religious schools to provide educational services, in violation of religious schools’ free exercise rights as well as the rights of the religious students and parents who would attend that school.”
First Liberty Institute announced the filing alongside law firms Miller Farmer Carlson, First & Fourteenth PLLC, and Dechert LLP.
“Parents have the constitutional right to seek out innovative government programs and be treated fairly when they do,” said First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys in a Feb. 16 press release.