Andrea Picciotti-Bayer: Colorado Universal Preschool Revives Anti-Catholic Precedent
Legal analyst Andrea Picciotti-Bayer warns that the state’s rollout of the Colorado universal preschool program echoes discriminatory 19th-century statutes, effectively sidelining Catholic schools and religious families seeking early childhood education funding.
Picciotti-Bayer, legal analyst and director of the Conscience Project, contends that state regulations governing Colorado’s Department of Early Childhood penalize faith-based providers by forcing them to choose between their core religious tenets and public participation. Her critiques spotlight a growing national debate over religious liberty, public education funding, and the lingering legacy of historic Blaine Amendments.
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Legal Controversy Surrounding Colorado Universal Preschool
Colorado launched its Universal Preschool (UPK) program in 2023 to provide up to 15 hours of tuition-free early education per week for four-year-olds statewide. Under the program guidelines, private, public, and religious providers may register to accept state funds on behalf of eligible children.
However, controversy erupted over state-mandated non-discrimination requirements regarding admissions and employment. Catholic preschools affiliated with the Archdiocese of Denver, including St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood, filed federal lawsuits challenging the rules.
The schools argued that the state’s mandate requires them to forfeit their religious authority—particularly regarding faith-based hiring practices and teachings on marriage and gender—even while secular providers received carve-outs and exemptions under program administration.
In her analysis, Picciotti-Bayer asserted that these state policies do not represent neutral governance, but rather an aggressive effort to exclude Catholic institutions from public benefits accessible to secular counterparts.
Echoes of 19th-Century Blaine Amendments
Central to Picciotti-Bayer’s argument is Colorado’s historical backdrop, specifically the state’s Blaine Amendment. Originating in the late 1800s, Blaine Amendments were adopted across dozens of state constitutions to bar public tax dollars from supporting sectarian institutions—measures widely recognized by historians and the U.S. Supreme Court as having anti-Catholic origins.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has recently curtailed state efforts to exclude religious schools from public benefit programs in landmark cases like Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and Carson v. Makin, Picciotti-Bayer warns that state agencies have found alternative ways to enforce exclusions.
“Colorado’s decision to disqualify Catholic preschools from universal preschool mirrors the hostile attitudes of the past,” Picciotti-Bayer argued, noting that modern bureaucratic requirements have effectively recreated the barriers once imposed by overt anti-sectarian statutes.
Federal Court Interventions
The legal clash has already prompted judicial action. In mid-2024, a federal district judge granted preliminary relief to Christian preschools operating within the state, ruling that Colorado officials could not compel faith-based providers to compromise their employment and admissions guidelines while secular exemptions were readily granted.
Legal advocates at Becket Law, who represent several Catholic parishes in the dispute, emphasized that universal programs must truly be universal, permitting parents of all faiths to use state entitlements at the provider of their choice.
What Happens Next
The ongoing legal battles over the Colorado universal preschool framework remain active in federal appellate courts. The outcome could establish critical legal precedent governing how states design publicly funded early childhood programs without infringing upon the First Amendment rights of religious institutions.
As litigation advances, constitutional scholars and education policy analysts will closely watch Colorado, where the dispute over preschool access continues to test the boundary between civil rights regulations and religious freedom guarantees.
