U.S. Supreme Court ruling on vouchers is bad for education, bad for religious freedom
June 28, 2002
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Ohio school voucher program is constitutional.
“The ACLU is disappointed by the Supreme Court decision because school vouchers threaten both religious liberty and public education.” said Maggie Garrett, an attorney with the ACLU of Alabama.
The Ohio voucher scheme funnels public money overwhelmingly to religious private schools. The program is troubling not just because it calls for the government funding of religion, but also because it subjects religious schools to government regulation. Entangling religious schools with state government is dangerous for both the schools and the government.
In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, “Whenever we remove a brick from the wall that was designed to separate religion and government, we increase the risk of religious strife and weaken the foundation of our democracy.”
Vouchers are also bad for public education. As vouchers funnel funds to sectarian schools, they drain funds from the public schools, preventing real public school reform. In addition, there is no indication that voucher students actually perform better academically than public school students.
“Abandoning our public schools is not the solution to our education problems. Instead, the states must improve education for all children,” said Olivia Turner, the executive director of the ACLU of Alabama.
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