A Christian school and an educational choice organization are asking a U.S. district court to declare that Colorado’s ban on funding for religious education violates the United States Constitution.
The educational choice organization, Education ReEnvisioned BOCES (ERBOCES), is a state-authorized entity that has served Colorado families for 13 years by overseeing brick-and-mortar schools, online schools and homeschool enrichment programs. “Across every model,” its website states, “we provide families more choice through collaboration, accountability, and support not found elsewhere in Colorado.”
In August 2025, ERBOCES contracted with Riverstone Academy, a Christian school, to provide tuition-free education to its students. At Riverstone, “classes perform Christian devotions, curricula are informed by a Christian worldview, and students are encouraged with and taught Biblical principles,” according to the complaint.
But when ERBOCES included Riverstone in its annual request for state funding, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) replied with a letter stating that Colorado law requires ERBOCES to refuse to contract with any religious school.
Attorneys for ERBOCES and Riverstone Academy say this law expressly violates the constitutional rights of students and parents.
“Colorado law treats religious schools differently just because they’re religious,” said Michael Francisco of the law firm First & Fourteenth. “This is yet another example of Colorado trying to unconstitutionally punish and exclude people of faith just because it doesn’t like their beliefs.”
First & Fourteenth, along with First Liberty Institute and the Miller Farmer Carlson law firm, are representing ERBOCES and Riverstone Academy in the lawsuit against state education officials.
The complaint asks the court to: declare that the Colorado laws forbidding funding for ERBOCES and Riverstone violate the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution, and also that the state may not take back any funding from ERBOCES in attempting to enforce those provisions. It also asks the court for a permanent injunction prohibiting the state from enforcing those laws against the plaintiffs in the future.
“Parents have the Constitutional right to seek out innovative government programs and be treated fairly when they do,” said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel with First Liberty Institute. “Education entrepreneurs like Education ReEnvisioned simply reflect the tradition of the earliest schools in our nation’s history that saw no conflict with the Constitution by integrating religious references throughout their curriculum.”
