The ACLU and two other civil liberties groups today filed suit in Denver District Court to challenge the Douglas County School District’s voucher plan to direct public money to private, religious schools.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State as well as the national and state organizations of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in Denver District Court on behalf of plaintiffs, including the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, a reform rabbi, a United Church of Christ pastor, the Douglas County’s library district director, an an handful of Douglas County parents.

They contend the district’s “Pilot Choice Scholarship Plan” violates the state constitution by allowing public funds to be channeled to religious schools.

The voucher plan was approved by the Douglas County school board in March and limited the number of vouchers available to 500 students. According to the district, 495 students have qualified to receive $4,575 vouchers to attend one of the 19 public or parochial schools for the 2011-12 school year.

The district opened the program to more than 100 schools in and near Douglas County. Of those, 27 applied to participate. At the time of the filing, 19 schools were approved, 14 of which are religious.

Under the terms of the agreement between district and the schools participating in the voucher program, any student who attends a parochial school must be allowed to opt out of any religious education offered there.

“Vouchers are nothing more than a backdoor way of forcing people to support religious schools,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, in a press release. “Douglas County’s reckless plan threatens church-state separation and public education and should be struck down.”

In addition to the district, the lawsuit also names as defendants the Colorado Board of Education and the Colorado Department of Education.

In a news release this afternoon, the school district said the voucher program is “one of many Choice programs available to Douglas County students. We continue to believe every student should be empowered to find their best educational fit, whether it is at one of our neighborhood schools, charter schools, or at one of our private-partner schools.

“We intentionally built this plan to include rigorous accountability measures that ensure a quality education for all students. Our District has a tradition of innovation and excellence – we will always provide opportunities that are in the best interests of our students.”