Voucher bill nearer passage

HB 1160 ready for its third, final reading in House

By Ryan Morgan
Denver Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - The Republican-backed voucher bill most likely to become law took another step closer to passage when a razor-thin majority gave it the nod on the House floor Tuesday afternoon.

Rep. Nancy Spence's House Bill 1160, which passed on a standing vote, would take money out of school districts and use it to pay for private schooling for poor, low-achieving students.

"Everyone wants to close the opportunity gap" between wealthy, high-performing districts and their poor, low-performing counterparts," Spence, a Centennial Republican, said in presenting her bill. "Now is the time to do it."

The program would apply to students who receive "low" or "unsatisfactory" scores on their CSAP tests, and who qualify for free or reduced-cost school lunches. Those students' parents could take money from the school - 85 percent of the school's "per pupil operating revenue" - and use it to pay for private or religious schools.

Supporters and critics alike agree small, inner-city schools, such as the tiny Watch Care Academy in northeast Denver, will receive most of the funds.

The bill would begin as a pilot program and would expire in 2008 unless lawmakers decide to renew it.

Spence amended her bill on the floor to bar support for schools that promote hate speech, and also to require that students who use the vouchers continue to take the CSAP tests.
But Democrats didn't let the bill pass without a fight.

Rep. Suzanne Williams, an Aurora Democrat, said vouchers are a discredited solution that voters have repeatedly turned down at the polls.

"The voucher system, or whatever you want to call it, is an old system now," she said.

Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, said Spence's bill runs afoul of Colorado's "Blaine amendment," which holds that "no public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or the support of any religious establishment."

But Republicans, including Rep. Doug Fairbank, said recent Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of the 19th century Blaine amendment. Fairbank also noted that James Blaine, the amendment's author, was motivated by bigotry. Blaine successfully amended 36 state constitutions because he wanted to stop the spread of Catholic schools, Fairbank said.

"The only reason there is a Blaine amendment is anti-Catholic sentiment," he said.
Other Democrats tried to change the bill.

Rep. Jack Pommer introduced an amendment intended to address religious discrimination in schools receiving the funds. Spence's bill prohibits schools that receive public money from discriminating against students using the vouchers.

But those schools would still be allowed to discriminate in hiring their staff members and teachers, which Pommer's amendment would have barred.

The amendment failed after Spence said it would be an unfair imposition on those schools.

Other Democratic amendments shared a similar fate. Rep. Dorothy Butcher, D-Pueblo, tried to change the bill to apply only to kindergarten through sixth grade, but that measure died on the floor.

Spence's bill finally passed after nearly two hours of floor debate. It will be up for its third and final reading by the end of the week, and will head to the Senate if passed.