Colorado Mom Says Her Kids Were Denied $12,000 in Preschool Aid Over Their Catholic Faith as the Supreme Court Prepares to Hear the Case

A religious-liberty case headed to the Supreme Court now has a family attached to it, Fox News reports.

The family. Erika Nagle, a mother of three whose children attend St. Mary Catholic School in Littleton, Colorado, told Fox News Digital two of her children were denied access to the state's universal preschool funding. She puts the lost benefit at $12,000. "We are being excluded from this benefit because we are Catholic," she said.

The program. Fox cites the legal group Becket as saying Colorado launched the program in 2023, offering eligible families about $6,300 for 15 hours of preschool a week, and promoted it as a benefit families could use at public, private or religious preschools. Catholic schools challenging it argue the state's participation requirements burden their religious beliefs and admissions practices.

The admissions dispute. Nagle says nearly every school has admissions priorities, whether for neighborhood children, LGBTQ families, children with special needs or low-income families, and asks why a Catholic school's priority for Catholic families should be treated differently. She says the program is hurting enrollment and that two preschools in the archdiocese have closed. "The state is dangling a carrot over here, incentivizing people to leave their faith," she said.

The case. Fox says the Supreme Court hears the case Tuesday. A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Early Childhood said the department could not comment on pending litigation. Fox says it asked Gov. Jared Polis' office for comment and did not immediately hear back.

Note for readers: the claims about how the program treats Catholic schools come from Nagle and Becket, the side challenging it. We have not seen the state's rules or its legal filings.