High court to decide school voucher issue

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, tackling a stark church-state issue dear to President Bush, agreed Tuesday to decide whether the Constitution permits using taxpayer dollars to pay religious school tuition.

The court will hear challenges sometime early next year to a 6-year-old school voucher program involving about 3,700 children in Cleveland. A ruling is expected by summer.

Supporters hope the conservative-led court will use the case to broaden its recent trend of approving limited uses of taxpayer money at religious schools. Opponents, too, say the court’s ruling could be a landmark.

"This is probably the most important church-state case in the last half-century," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

The case poses a direct question about the Constitution’s position on government money and religion. Recent church-state cases, while important, have explored more peripheral matters, such as whether a prayer group may meet in a public school building.

Vouchers let parents use government subsidies to pay at least some of the tuition at private and parochial schools. In Ohio, parents can get up to $2,500 in tuition help. All but a handful of the schools participating in the Ohio program are religious.

"To be forced to send my child to a system that’s failing is just idiotic," said Roberta Kitchen, legal guardian for 10-year-old Toshika, whose tuition at a Lutheran elementary school is almost entirely funded through the Cleveland voucher program.

Toshika is getting good grades and wants to be doctor, Kitchen said. Her school provides small classes, attentive teachers and all the books and supplies she needs. With four other children to support, "there is no way I can afford all the tuition," Kitchen said. "The vouchers were a godsend."

Political opponents, including teachers’ unions and most congressional Democrats, say vouchers siphon precious public money from the neediest schools.

"Vouchers are bad public policy," said Julie Underwood, general counsel for the National School Boards Association. "Vouchers are not the educational silver bullet; they’re not the path to improving public schools."

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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