Backers of school vouchers asked the Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive the state's voucher program after it was shelved last week.

Attorney General Ken Salazar and the legal group Institute for Justice filed their appeal in hopes the justices will hear the case soon.

They also asked Denver District Judge Joseph E. Meyer III to lift his injunction against the voucher plan throughout the appeal process.

They claim families, school districts and private schools have already invested too much in the program to have it halted before fall 2004.

"It is critical that the work of implementation continue as the case is appealed," said Chip Mellor, president and general counsel for the Institute for Justice. "Every additional day Colorado's low- income schoolchildren spend in struggling public schools is a lost day they will never recover."

Deputy Attorney General Ken Lane said there is no timetable for when the Colorado Supreme Court may consider the appeal.

Meyer last week ruled the state's voucher plan unconstitutional because it violated the local control provision of the state constitution.

The 11 school districts forced to offer school vouchers were stripped of their authority over instruction, Meyer said in his ruling.

Meyer's order stopped all work on the program. The Colorado Alliance for Reform in Education estimates 86,000 applications have been mailed to parents whose children are eligible for vouchers.

CARE also says 3,794 families representing 7,031 children have submitted pre-applications to the group, expressing interest in the program. As many as 3,322 slots are available in the 11 school districts in 2004-05, the first year of the plan.

"We hope the Colorado Supreme Court will quickly take up the case and allow the program to continue," Mellor said.