It is an understatement to suggest that Gov. Jared Polis has had a tough couple of months. The bloom was already off the rose and Coloradans were paying far more attention to the choice of his replacement than they were to him.

The June 30 Democratic primary will identify that near-certain successor and officially cement Polis’s lame-duck status with a half-year left to go.

Of course, the finishing blow for innumerable Coloradans was his mid-May commutation of the prison sentence of the nefarious Tina Peters. For many, including this columnist, Polis’s decision remains a head-scratcher even as it demonstrates an Alfred E. Neuman-esque “What, me worry?” approach to his final months in office.

Most Colorado governors of the last half-century have left office with considerable remaining popularity and political viability. Some have remained beloved. Polis, conversely, will depart at a low ebb and a spent force with any political future being hard to imagine, his wallet notwithstanding.

All that said, and none of it very kind or flattering to our governor, on one issue at least, Polis has remained steadfast and resolute in the face of significant pushback within his own party. Moreover, Polis has been correct on the merits of the case.

The reference here is to Polis’s decision to opt Colorado into the federal tax-credit scholarship program, which will allow Colorado residents to claim a tax credit of up to $1,700 starting next year for donations to qualified scholarship-granting organizations.

Public schools serve the vast majority of Colorado children, albeit with mixed results. Well-to-do families have long had the ability to opt out of the public system in favor of preferred options.

Nonprofit organizations such as ACE Scholarships in the Denver area and Parents Challenge in Colorado Springs provide such opportunities for economically struggling families. Further, many private and parochial schools have scholarship funds supported by charitable donations.

The tax credit is designed to stimulate contributions to such programs by providing donors an offset up to $1,700 on their federal income tax. As such, it is fully in keeping with a host of other deductions and credits in the tax code to boost the nonprofit sector.

This program is a product of the so-called Big, Beautiful Bill, which was far more of the former and less of the latter. To be clear, there was much to detest in this legislation. Polis left no doubt that he would have voted against the bill had he still been in Congress.

But the reality is that this massive, majestic monstrosity (see, anyone, can do alliteration) is the law of the land. Moreover, even a mess of that scope can include a few worthy pieces.

The decision Polis faced was whether to enlist Colorado in this program and allow Colorado donors to take advantage of the credit, or, conversely, to have Colorado taxpayers sit out while effectively subsidizing those in other states who were using the opportunity.

True to form, the usual suspects in the education cabal and in the left-leaning factions of the Democratic Party squawked loud and hard. “But it will harm our public schools.” “But it’s a gateway to vouchers.” “But teachers in some of these schools are not unionized.” And so on and so forth, blah, blah, blah.

Such advocates would rather leave this money on the table than for Colorado to participate. Fortunately, Polis tuned them out and did the right thing.

Self-described progressives worship at the altar of choice in almost all respects except when it comes to a family’s decision as to where little Mateo or Amelia should go to school.

On consumer choice and breaking up corporate monopolies, progressives are all in. And God forbid that the government intrude on a woman’s right to reproductive choice. But when it comes to school choice, no end of objections are raised and there is always some reason why it cannot or will not work.

Whatever the form of choice at the time, including charters in their infancy, the alliance of teacher unions and the progressive left has been opposed.

The hypocrisy is particularly rich for those who take advantage of choice for their own kids, sometimes attending Colorado’s elite and priciest private schools, while arguing against such options for families on the other end of the economic ladder.

Who are the real progressives here?

Of the two Democratic candidates for Polis’s gubernatorial chair, Phil Weiser has unequivocally stated his intention to withdraw Colorado from this program, effectively bowing to the union demand, while Michael Bennet has ducked and weaved around the question.

In the spirit of giving credit where it is due, points to Gov. Polis for sticking to his convictions and standing up to such opposition. He has long been a champion of educational choice, dating back to his founding of the New America Charter Schools well before his years as governor.

In many respects, Colorado is ready to turn the page on Polis’s governorship. Though we may soon pine for his independent streak and willingness to speak truth to powers that be in his own ranks.

Eric Sondermann is a Colorado-based independent political commentator. He writes regularly for Colorado Politics and The Gazette. Reach him at EWS@EricSondermann.com; follow him at @EricSondermann