Christian schools challenge preschool law at Supreme Court

The fight over who defines “universal” in Colorado’s free preschool program is headed toward Washington.

Two Catholic parishes, a family, and the Archdiocese of Denver are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in after Colorado barred religious preschools from participating in a state-run initiative over their faith-based policies on gender and family life, as The Christian Post reports.

The conflict began in 2023 when Catholic schools were excluded from Colorado’s new Universal Preschool Program (UPK), which offers 15 hours of weekly pre-K education to families statewide, under the condition that participating schools comply with an LGBT nondiscrimination clause.

Lawsuit Claims State Enforces Ideological Conformity

According to the lawsuit, Catholic preschools were told they must accept students and families regardless of "religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity" — a direct hit to schools that prioritize aligning with the teachings of the Church.

In this test of the First Amendment, the Catholic schools argue their constitutional rights to free speech and religious exercise are on the chopping block simply because they decline to bend their religious mission to match the state’s progressive social standards.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals didn't see it that way. In a unanimous September decision, the court sided with the state, declaring that Colorado’s rules are "religion-neutral" and binding on any school that receives public dollars.

State Defines Neutrality, But Critics Disagree

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado backed the court’s stance, stating, “There is no Free Exercise Clause violation when a governmental body conditions a public benefit on a religion-neutral and generally applicable requirement.”

For many, though, the contradiction is glaring: if a policy effectively disqualifies religious schools from participating unless they abandon foundational teachings, how neutral can it be?

Nick Reaves, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, called it out plainly: “Colorado is picking winners and losers based on the content of their religious beliefs.”

Preschools Barred from Upholding Church Values

The Catholic preschools involved — St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood — say they are being forced to choose between fidelity to their faith and access to a program that’s supposedly for everyone.

Scott Elmer, the Archdiocese’s Chief Mission Officer, put it bluntly: “All we ask is for the ability to offer families who choose a Catholic education the same access to free preschool services that's available at thousands of other preschools across Colorado.”

That doesn't sound like exclusion; it sounds like equity — real equity, not the kind that demands ideological conformity at the cost of conscience.

Faith-Based Schools Losing Students Post-Exclusion

Since being shut out of the state-backed program, Catholic schools report declining enrollments — a predictable result when state subsidies bypass families who prefer faith-based education.

The Becket Fund, which represents the plaintiffs, attributes the falloff directly to UPK's requirements, noting that 36 Catholic preschools were blocked from participating over their refusal to compromise on Church doctrine.

Supporters of Colorado’s policy argue that tax dollars shouldn’t bankroll institutions they believe discriminate, but critics of the rule say it's the state doing the discriminating by filtering out schools with time-honored moral and religious standards.

Supreme Court May Determine Future of Religious Autonomy

The high court is expected to decide whether it will hear the case early next year — a decision that could set the tone for how government-funded programs can interact with religious institutions in the future.

Plaintiffs warn that unless the Court intervenes, states may continue to sideline faith-based organizations through policies that seem neutral on the surface but actively penalize religious conviction.

As the plaintiffs note in their appeal: “The Free Exercise Clause simply cannot do that important work — which this Court has described as at the heart of our pluralistic society — if it can be so easily evaded.”