Lawmakers this year will debate putting tax-supported vouchers for private schools into the hands of Colorado students while keeping track of a tightening budget for education. A measure aimed at immersing immigrant students in English-only classes and one that cracks down on athletic transfers between schools are among other education-related bills expected to be introduced this legislative session. Vouchers will probably grab the most attention, however. Supporters hope a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed low-income parents in Ohio to use public money for tuition at private schools - including parochial schools - and a favorable political climate will help usher vouchers into Colorado. Republicans are usually friendly toward vouchers, and they control both the House and the Senate. Republican Gov. Bill Owens is also a staunch supporter of school choice and is likely to be friendly toward vouchers, say school officials. Still, Owens needs to study a final voucher bill before he will back it, said spokesman Sean Duffy. "He always says he will never make promises on any bill until he sees it," Duffy said. At least five voucher bills are expected to be introduced during the session. The other key to any of them becoming law is how much bipartisan support they can attract, said Todd Ziebarth, policy analyst for the Denver-based Education Commission of the States. "What's usually been passed are targeted bills (aimed at particular students) who get the backing from key Democrats," Ziebarth said. A bill that may find success is one slated to be introduced by Rep. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, that would help low-income kids now enrolled in schools designated as "unsatisfactory" by the state. A low-rated school could contract with a private school to provide instruction for students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, Spence said. State money would pay the student's tuition. The number of eligible students would also be capped to limit the drain from public classrooms, she said. There will also be accountability provisions that ensure the participating students are getting the instruction they need, she said. Spence has already gotten the support of outgoing State Board of Education member Gully Stanford, an opponent of most voucher proposals. Her bill looks "very promising," Stanford said. "I hope a school district can be found which would undertake such a collaboration." A bill promising vouchers to every student in Colorado along with measures that call for tuition-tax credits for parents who enroll their kids in a private school will also be introduced. Those are likely to attract the usual detractors, who say the proposals will drain money and students from struggling neighborhood schools. In addition, lawmakers will try to make Colorado the first state to give vouchers to all students who want to attend a public college in the state. The subsidies would be worth up to $18,666 for four years. The state's budget woes will be a constant worry for lawmakers and those who want to keep schools immune from most cost-cutting. Owens has said he wants to protect K-12 education, including the annual Colorado Student Assessment Program exams and efforts to track the academic progress of all students. But the State Board of Education is recommending that some recently enacted programs be sliced, including the financial awards given to schools for their work on the CSAP. Lawmakers have said the cuts could go deeper, including cutting per-pupil funding - which now averages $5,783 - by 1 to 3 percent. "Obviously, the School Finance Act and budget-balancing needs will command supreme and urgent attention," Stanford said. Higher education has already suffered budget cuts. Reductions in funding so far have totaled $80 million - or 10 percent of its $800 million appropriation. Financial aid has been protected from the cuts. The higher-education cuts have resulted in staff layoffs, unfilled faculty openings, full-time instructors going to part-time status, administrators teaching classes, professors doing janitorial work and top officers taking unpaid furloughs. The four-campus University of Colorado system and central administration has cut $30 million, and Colorado's community college system overseeing 13 colleges has trimmed $15.5 million. Downtown Denver's Auraria Higher Education Center, home to three colleges, was the first to announce state layoffs in October, with 23 jobs cut. It has cuts totaling $1.4 million, including some higher-level administrators. In addition to money issues, legislators will continue to tussle with bilingual education, after the bruising fall campaign over a failed ballot initiative that would have barred teachers from using Spanish in the classrooms. But Rep. Richard Decker, R-Fountain, still thinks schools that don't immerse immigrant kids in English immediately are cheating them. So he plans to introduce a bill mandating two years of English-only instruction. After that, kids could go either into mainstream or mixed-language programs, Decker said. "It's not my idea to do away with bilingual education," he said. Decker said his bill will be less punitive than Amendment 31, which voters shot down in November in part because it would have allowed lawsuits against bilingual teachers whose English learners failed to learn English. But, he said, "there are some sanctions. Not against individuals, but against districts." He didn't say what form those sanctions would take. Spence said she will also carry a bill for the Colorado High School Athletic Association that would force high school athletes to miss half their team's games if they switch schools without changing residences. The bill is aimed at complaints that Colorado's current open-enrollment rules are creating all-star teams in some schools. Officials say some students can play for four schools in four years without once changing their home address. The legislature may also tackle the complaints alleged in a lawsuit filed last year by parents of special-education students, Stanford said. The suit claims that special- education funding is so poor that it violates the state constitution. Named as defendants are the Colorado Department of Education, the State Board of Education and Education Commissioner Bill Moloney.