Hundreds of protesters on both sides of the issue stood outside the Supreme Court building this week to hear arguments for what could end up as the largest church-state court case in the past 50 years.
In Wednesday discussion, the Supreme Court said granting enough choice in the Ohio school voucher plan was a major factor in deciding whether it is constitutional to give tax dollars to religious schools. President Bush supports the voucher system.
In Cleveland, the voucher program has allowed 4,000 students from low-income families to get up to $2,500 in tuition to attend either public or private schools if parents felt the student’s current school did not serve his or her needs.
The decision was struck down because it allowed vouchers to be used for schools with religious affiliation, which opponents say promotes religious education.
Several justices focused on whether parents wanting to pull their children from failing public schools in Cleveland were given enough choices or whether they were forced to send their children to religious schools, where most of the money was being sent.
Although justices did not discuss Wisconsin, many political experts say the school voucher system in Milwaukee is similar to that of Cleveland.
John Witte, UW-Madison professor of political science said the decision will be politically motivated.
“If they support the voucher program, the support can come in many different ways,” Witte said.
In 1998, a group from Milwaukee sued over school vouchers, and the Supreme Court did not hear the case. Witte said if the Ohio decision isn’t upheld, the Milwaukee group that sued could try to get the Wisconsin decision overturned.
David Canon, UW political science professor, said this debate could have a dramatic effect on schools.
“The key issue is the First Amendment and the separation of the church and state,” Canon said. “And whether using taxpayers’ money is okay and something that should be allowed.”
Canon said he does not believe school vouchers are a good idea, because they undermine public schools by allowing the best students to leave.
Opponents of the plan say allowing funding for religious schools would weaken the separation between church and state.
Robert Chanin, attorney for voucher opponents, said using taxpayers’ money to support religious schools is a constitutional violation and not a solution to the problem of crumbling schools.
“I don’t think the crisis in the Cleveland public schools is a reason to abandon constitutional principles,” Chanin told Justice Anthony Scalia, who said the Ohio voucher program had helped poor inner-city children.
Justice David Souter said 96 percent of the tuition money was going to religious schools. He also said he was concerned money from the Cleveland voucher program was also going into religious schools, which have a monopoly on private education.
“At the end of the day, a massive amount of money into religious schools is the sticking point,” Souter said.
Opponents of the voucher plan also said it drains much-needed resources from struggling government schools in favor of a small portion of the population.
But school voucher supporters argue vouchers promote competition in education and force failing public schools to raise their standards and become more accountable.
The justices are expected to make a decision by June. The Ohio program can continue until the court rules.
–Reuters contributed to this report
