Originally published at National Catholic Register
Colorado state officials repealed a religious freedom protection in the state’s Universal Preschool (UPK) program amid an ongoing legal battle over whether two Catholic preschools can participate in the program.
The congregation preference rule allowed Colorado religious preschools to participate in the UPK program while giving preference to students of families in their congregations and taking religious background into account on applications.
“Colorado is eliminating a key part of UPK that it previously held out as critical for faith-based preschools to participate,” Nick Reaves, senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the nonprofit law firm that is arguing on behalf of the parishes, told CNA.
“The state is showing once again that it would rather exclude Catholic preschools from the program than ensure all families can access schools that are best for them,” Reaves said.
Run by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, the UPK program gives participating families a stipend to cover the cost of tuition for 15 hours of preschool per week to attend private, public, or faith-based preschools.
But Colorado denied these benefits to families who send their children to Catholic preschools because the schools take religious affiliation into account during the application process. St. Mary
