Denver ? Surrounded by hundreds of cheering children, Gov. Bill Owens signed a law Wednesday establishing the first state school voucher program since the U.S. Supreme Court declared such programs constitutional last year.

“We’re going to literally open the door of opportunity to thousands of our children,” the Republican governor told the crowd gathered on the Capitol steps.

Beginning next year, Colorado’s law will apply to children in kindergarten through 12th grade who are eligible for free or reduced-cost school lunches. It will allow a school district to provide vouchers to qualifying children if at least eight of its schools received low or unsatisfactory academic performance ratings.

Sarah Wilson, 17, said the law would help her parents cover the $4,000 annual tuition at her Christian school, which offers individual attention she said she never got in public schools.

Kadie Murphy, 17, said it did not bother her that she could be taking money from the public school she once attended. “They didn’t care about the students at all,” she said.

A goal of conservatives for years, vouchers were twice rejected by Colorado voters. The bill was pushed through the Legislature after Republicans won control in November’s elections, with supporters saying it would give poor students a better education and force public schools to improve.

The Colorado Education Assn., representing 36,000 teachers, is considering a lawsuit challenging the program, arguing that it could cost public schools as much as $200 million in state aid.

“This is a sad day for our children, our state and our constitution,” association President Ron Brady said.

Voucher programs have been around for more than a decade.

A program in Milwaukee, which was the nation’s first when it began in 1990, has more than 10,800 students in 103 private schools.

A 1999 Florida law lets students at struggling public schools get a voucher to attend private schools. A judge ruled the law violates the Florida Constitution because it allows public money to aid religious schools. The ruling has been appealed.