Colorado governor plans to opt into Trump-endorsed initiative that some fear will lead to voucher program

https://coloradosun.com/2025/12/05/colorado-federal-tax-credit-scholarship-program-voucher/

The federal program would dole out scholarships to both public and private school students through donations from taxpayers in exchange for federal tax credits

"Democratic Gov. Jared Polis says he plans to opt Colorado into a new federal program that would send what many consider to be public funds to private schools to help students cover the cost of tuition and other expenses.

That’s despite Polis’ insistence that he does not support the idea of funding private schools with public subsidies — a concept known as a voucher program — and despite strong opposition from a group of education advocates and public school proponents.

In a letter sent to Polis on Wednesday by a group of organizations, most of them education based, critics of the federal program urged the governor to turn it down, pointing to voters’ history of rejecting three attempts to create voucher programs in Colorado.

“We can all agree that our public schools can and must do better in providing an excellent public education to all of our students, regardless of ZIP code, race, the language spoken at home, or way of learning,” the letter, organized by Great Education Colorado, states. “But publicly funded school vouchers are not the way to achieve this. We need to support our public schools and help them to grow stronger, not weaken them by shifting federal dollars to support families already opting to send their children to private or religious schools.”