Supreme Court hears school voucher case
___By Adelle Banks
___Religion News Service
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--The nation's highest court joined the debate on school vouchers, considering Feb. 20 whether the state aid that pays for tuition in religious schools is constitutional.
___The discussion during oral arguments at the Supreme Court focused on such issues as the high percentage of Cleveland students who choose religious schools among private school choices and whether parents truly have an array of educational options.
___The case centers on a pilot program adopted by the Ohio Legislature to aid mostly low-income children who attend troubled public schools.
___"It offers true choice to parents," argued Judith French, chief counsel for Ohio's attorney general.
___She asked the justices to overturn the 2000 ruling of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the program was unconstitutional because it advances religion.
___Parents who choose to send their children to a private school receive a maximum of $2,250 per student per year. They sign over a check to the school they select.
___Justices considered the percentages of students who have enrolled in the program and chosen religious schools. That number has risen from 96 percent in 1999 to 99 percent in the current school year.
___Justice Stephen Breyer imagined the impression of a newcomer to this country viewing the program with "a large amount of money" spent by the government and used by students at parochial schools.
___"Wouldn't you say the government endorses a religious education?" he asked.
___David Young, a Columbus, Ohio, a lawyer for parents and schools who benefit from the program, added to French's arguments, saying that rather than endorsing religion, the government "was trying to resolve a problem of these disadvantaged, low-income children."
___Solicitor General Theodore Olson argued for the Bush administration, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the voucher program. With his arguments, the debate lasted 80 minutes instead of the usual hour.
___Olson urged the court to consider the history and context of the program, which was designed to fix a "manifestly failing system."
___He cited an increase in the number of non-religious schools participating in Milwaukee's voucher program.
___But Souter pondered the fact that 99 percent of the students who currently use the vouchers in private schools have opted for religious schools.
___"Doesn't that suggest there is perhaps something specious about the notion of wide choice here?" he asked.
___The high percentage of religious schools among private school choices is a key to the argument of program opponents.
___"It is a mathematical certainty that almost all of the students will end up going to religious schools," said Robert Chanin, a Washington lawyer who represented the National Education Association before the justices.
___More than one justice questioned whether the array of choices beyond private schools should be considered in determining the constitutionality of the voucher program.
___"Why should we not look at all of the options open to parents?" asked Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who cited community and magnet schools as examples.
___She said the numbers may be "skewed" in favor of religion only because voucher opponents are not including all choices in their argument against the program.
___But Chanin maintained that the support of religious schools is unconstitutional. "It's a back-door approach to precisely what the Establishment Clause prohibits," he said.
___Justice Antonin Scalia, too, wondered if the look at the religious programs paints an incomplete picture.
___"The question is whether or not there is neutrality," he said, speculating that Chanin may be asking them to "put on blinders."
___"We are asking you to look at reality," Chanin responded.
___But Kennedy disagreed: "You're asking us to look at part of reality."
___Outside the court, hundreds of protesters loudly shouted their views on the case.
The Baptist Standard
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook