Colorado Supreme Court rejects Douglas County voucher program

[alp227]

Source: Denver Post

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday shot down the Douglas County School District's groundbreaking, controversial school voucher program, finding it unconstitutional in a split ruling.

The long-awaited decision caps a more than three-year legal battle over the fate of the wealthy suburban district's Choice Scholarship Program.

The voucher program, which would use taxpayer money to send children to private schools, was put on hold in 2011 just as the first 304 students were about to enroll. Most planned to attend religious schools.

The court found the program conflicts with "broad, unequivocal language forbidding the State from using public money to fund religious schools."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28401042/colorado-supreme-court-rejects-douglas-county-voucher-program

[randys1]

1. THank god. Reminder, the right HATES educated peoploe

[lark]

2. Charter schools are often ineffective.

So therefore the right loves them because of the reason you stated. The right also loves religious schools so they can indoctrinate kids in RW idiology. They love both types of schools collectively because both hurt teachers unions.

[asiliveandbreathe]

3. And they wanted the tax payers to pay for it!

Imagine...but you know it will go to SCOTUS..let's see if they take the case...

Why do I feel so euphoric this week....

ACA - SSM - AZ Independent Committee - CO Supremes knock down voucher scheme - sweet!

[Democrats_win]

4. Viva Blaine Amendments!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaine_Amendment

Religion should know better than to accept taxpayer money for religions schools. All but eleven U.S. states have Blaine Amendments forbidding taxpayer funding of religious schools (Colorado has a Blaine Amendment and that's why we won). Yet they persisted in this case and will probably continue to take it to the Supreme Court. Heck, their own religious teachings should forbid stealing money from us! Go tell it on the mountain: Religion steals from us!

Religion receives all kinds of money from taxpayers especially from the Federal government. Some would, somewhat correctly, argue that religion provides needed services to people and may be better than the government at using taxpayer money to provide those services to the poor. But the point of religion is to provide services through the goodness of their hearts and to serve God. Yet when they take taxpayer money, they're just doing a job--not God's work. The ethics of religions taking taxpayer money is a mountain of wrong. Why can't they see that? Has the devil clouded their judgment?

[happyslug]

6. Blaine, Blaine, James G Blaine, that Continental liar from the State of Maine

Old ditty from when he ran for President (He lost to Grover Cleveland in 1884). Blaine, a good Republican had been the child of a Presbyterian Father and a Catholic Mother. Technically the couple raised their sons to be Presbyterians and their Daughters to be Catholic.

The Blaine Amendment was designed to prevent any tax dollars to go to Religious Schools (in the 1800s that meant Catholic Schools). It is generally considered his support for the Blaine Amendment was to show his fellow Republicans that he had forsaken his Mother's Catholic roots. On the other hand, he did support not only the State Blaine Amendment but the proposed FEDERAL Amendment for he was a huge supporter of public education.

The sad part about Blaine, was in his campaign to be President, he had attended a function in New York City, had left it to go to another function and after he had left a Religious Radical gave his famous comment on the Democrats of the 1880s "The Democratic Party is the Party of Rum, Romanism and Rebellion", in a time period where support for Prohibition was growing, Anti-Catholicism was at its peak, and many in the North had NOT forgiven the South for the Civil War. The Speech was considered Anti-Irish and the Irish voted Democratic that year, causing Blaine to lose New York and the election. This despite his mother being an Irish Catholic and his support for the Irish in the US AND their dispute with Britain.

Blaine supported Civil Service, at a time when all of the positions of the federal government, right down to the letter carriers delivering mail, were all political appointees. Civil Service reform was a big issue at that time period for it would lead to people holding positions no matter who was elected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Blaine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Breed_(politics)

While he was raised a Presbyterian, like his father, Blaine buried his parents in a Catholic cemetery in Brownsville PA. The church is unique not only for having one of the largest grave markers in any cemetery (Blaine spent the money) but a church with a knave where the priests seats during mass. Such Knaves are ONLY installed in Churches where a Bishop is the Priest, or where a Bishop had set up the Church of his Diocese, but that church was NEVER the Church of a bishop (Speculation is the builders believed it would be, but never did become a the church of a Catholic Bishop).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter's_Church_(Brownsville,_Pennsylvania)

More on Blaine:

https://books.google.com/books?id=1rtEAAAAIAAJ&pg=PR16&lpg=PR16&dq=Brownsville+PA+Church+James+Blaine&source=bl&ots=-2YMSA-mvU&sig=CaKp4iX0vZEQfWbtN_UU-C9qm_c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DPCRVdHKBoqw-AGx94KgDg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Brownsville%20PA%20Church%20James%20Blaine&f=false

An interesting 1800s GOP candidate for President. Would have won the nomination in 1888 and defeated Cleveland (the GOP Candidate that year, Harrison did defeat Cleveland) but hated by may Republicans for he was of the Reform wing of the party (and like any reformer, any hint of corruption was used against him thus his "reputation" for corruption).

Just a Comment on Blaine, picked to run against Cleveland for he was the most honest GOP politician of his time, and lost the election after being accused of corruption and anti-Catholicism.

[PatrickforO]

4. My kids went to Douglas County schools and at the time they were very good.

Unfortunately, every time right wing ideologues get hold of something they screw it up, and the 'Choice Scholarship Program' is no exception. The problem with it, and with all voucher systems, is that it takes monies from the public schools that most need it, and transfers it to expensive private or religious schools. So, when we SHOULD be taking pride in our public schools and trying to make them the best they can be, we have a whole group the wants to privatize, deregulate, bust the unions and end any public funding except for war.

This is SO destructive.