Colorado vs. a Catholic Preschool

Colorado promised preschool for everyone. Two Catholic parishes say the state did not mean everyone. On Nov. 3, the Supreme Court will hear St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy (No. 25-581), a case about religious liberty, public money, and who gets to decide what a church school must teach and practice.

The argument date, according to the Court's calendar as reported by Catholic outlets and others, is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. That is also Election Day for the midterms, which will make it easy for the case to be overlooked. It should not be.

The facts of the dispute

Colorado's universal preschool program lets families use state support to send a child to the preschool of their choice, public or private, including faith-based schools. The petitioners are two Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Denver: St. Mary in Littleton and St. Bernadette in Lakewood. Their preschools stayed out of the program.

The reason is a state rule. As reported, Colorado requires participating providers to accept applicants without regard to the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or the child's family, and without regard to religion. The parishes say Catholic teaching requires them to consider sexual orientation and gender identity in admissions, and that they cannot agree to the state's terms.

The state's side deserves a clear statement too. Colorado argues its rules are neutral and apply to every preschool without distinction. A federal district court and the Tenth Circuit agreed with the state, relying on the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith, which held that neutral, generally applicable laws usually do not violate the Free Exercise Clause. Reporting on the Tenth Circuit's decision also says the court found that the schools do not categorically exclude children with same-sex parents, although one affiliated school, Wellspring Catholic Academy, had previously denied admission to a fifth-grade applicant with same-sex parents. The parishes dispute how the state describes their policy. Advocates for the state describe the case as a fight over refusing to follow antidiscrimination rules. The Becket Fund, representing the parishes, says Colorado promised free preschool for all and then slammed the door on families who chose a religious school.

Who is weighing in

The Trump administration urged the Court to take the case, though the federal government is not a party. On the other side, 179 members of Congress, including 13 senators, signed a brief urging the Court to preserve Colorado's power to set conditions on the program. A decision is expected by June 2027.

The take

The question at the center is simple. Can a state invite every family to use public money at the preschool of their choice, and then exclude one kind of school because of its religious beliefs? The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that when a government opens a benefit program to private schools, it cannot disqualify schools merely because they are religious. In recent years the Court applied that principle in cases involving a Montana scholarship program and a Maine tuition program. This case tests how far it reaches when a state says it is not excluding religion but enforcing a rule about conduct.

Conservatives have a strong argument. A Catholic preschool is an expression of the faith, not a vending machine for state services. Requiring a church to set aside its teaching on marriage and the human person as the price of participation looks less like neutrality and more like a toll on religious practice. Parents who pay taxes into the program, including Catholic parents, have a stake in being allowed to use it.

But the case is not as one-sided as some commentary suggests. Same-sex parents also pay taxes, and the state has a legitimate interest in ensuring that its program serves families without discrimination. The Tenth Circuit's finding that the parishes do not categorically exclude such children is part of the record, and the justices will have to weigh it. The Court could rule narrowly, on the way Colorado applied its rule, or broadly, by cutting back on Smith itself. We should not guess which, and nothing here is a prediction.

What is not in doubt is the stakes. If the parishes win, states that fund universal programs will have to think harder before attaching conditions that religious providers cannot accept. If Colorado wins, faith-based schools will face a choice between their beliefs and public support. Americans on both sides of the culture divide should want the Court to answer clearly, and to answer fairly.