Private schools complained about the red tape surrounding Colorado's new school-voucher law at a legislative hearing Monday.

Public school districts also maintained that school vouchers add more work to already overflowing in-boxes at central offices.

But the overall theme of the ad-hoc gathering was that school vouchers are being placed in the hands of parents as quickly as possible to be used by fall 2004.

'There has been a phenomenal amount of work done between people who don't normally talk to each other,' said Jane Urschel.

Urschel, associate executive director of the Colorado Association of School Boards, is a member of an advisory committee of public and private school officials charged with helping implement the voucher plan.

It would allow mostly low-income parents in 11 school districts with failing schools to use a taxpayer-supported voucher to pay for private schooling.

Several groups - including the Colorado PTA, League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Colorado NAACP - are suing to block the program. They claim the voucher law violates the state constitution's prohibition against supporting private, religious schools.

But Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar argues the voucher program promotes learning and not religion because vouchers go to parents who then decide what to do with the funds.

Both sides of the voucher lawsuit will be in Denver District Court on Wednesday for a motions hearing to decide if the lawsuit should move forward, court officials said.

Proponents contend many of the 11 school districts are trying to undermine the voucher plan by accepting some private schools into the program but denying others.

'I'd like to determine the reason for glaring inconsistencies among the school districts in accepting the private school applications into the program,' said state Rep. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, who co-sponsored the voucher bill and co-chaired Monday's hearing. 'In some instances, the decisions that have been made in regards to accepting schools seem almost arbitrary.'

All 13 schools in the Denver Catholic Archdiocese that applied to the three Adams County districts were denied on the basis that the schools discriminated against disabled students, said Dick Thompson, superintendent for Catholic schools. But those same 13 schools were approved by others.

'I am puzzled by the blanket denials,' Thompson said.

He cited several schools in the archdiocese that serve mostly Hispanic, poor and disabled students.

Many of the problems targeted by school districts could be tied to vague language in the law. Or it could be a misunderstanding over what is a disability, he said.

'My point is simply that it is obvious that our Catholic schools do not discriminate on the basis of disability,' Thompson said.

Many private schools don't want to deal with the 12-to 14-page application forms or the many deadlines they must meet, said Margo Branscomb of the Alliance for Choice in Education.

'We're worried the chances for many children will disappear because of time frames and roadblocks,' she said.

Many private schools were rejected because they did not have evidence of health and safety inspections by the Oct. 1 deadline, said Tonette Salazar of the Colorado Association of School Executives.

Some school districts adhered closely to the Oct. 1 deadline, while other districts allowed private schools more time to get the proper paperwork.

Other private schools earned a rejection because they didn't show they had a proper English language-immersion program for their voucher students, Salazar said.