The Womilra

Pro-Voucher Ruling
Changes Future Debate

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

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ast week's Wisconsin
Supreme Court decision
upholding the use of govern-
ment "vouchers" at parochial
schools won't change many opinions
in a deeply divided Jewish community,
but it may significantly change the
political calculus for the issue.
And the Wisconsin decision was
written in a way that may work to the
advantage of voucher supporters when
the case goes before the Supreme
Court. So far, opponents of the plan
have not appealed, although they are
expected to do so soon.
"The opinion lays out a path which
the Supreme Court will be comfort-
able following," said Mar-
shall Breger, a professor of
law at Catholic University
and a leading voucher
advocate. "The opinion was
broad, and based on the
factual finding that the
state is neutral, that it's the
parents who make decisions
about where to send their
children to school, not the
government. The court is
likely to be sympathetic to
that."
Breger also said that Jew-
ish opposition to voucher
programs is "eroding." But
that contention was chal-
lenged by other Jewish
activists.
"Voucher opponents have been vig-
orous and aggressive, and this decision
will only increase that commitment,"
said Mark Pelavin, associate director of
the Religious Action Center of Reform
Judaism. "We remain very concerned
because of the constitutional implica-
tions of vouchers, but also because this
represents bad school policy. These are
programs that will inevitably have a
negative impact on the public schools,
and on the 90 percent of kids who
attend them."
Last week's 4-2 vote involved a pio-
neering voucher program serving
about 1,500 Milwaukee students.
Until the decision, the program was
limited to non-religious schools. But
the justices ruled that since parents
make the choice of where to send their
children, the program does not "have
the primary effect of advancing reli-
gion."
That will set the stage for the U.S.
Supreme Court's first examination of
the voucher issue, probably next year.

But even before that, the ruling
may be a spur to other cities and s
that are considering voucher pro-
grams, as well as to congressional
efforts to pass federal voucher legisla
tion.
"It's a giant step forward for the
school choice movement," said Abba
Cohen, Washington representative f
Agudath Israel of America, which su
ports vouchers. "It will raise the co
fort level of many legislators who art
interested, but concerned about the
constitutional implications. This deci
sion will remove some obstacles and
encourage Congress to move ahead."
GOP leaders still are unlikely to
muster enough votes to override Pres
dent Clinton's recent veto of a bill
authorizing a voucher program in tilt

District of Columbia. But last week',?'
vote may encourage legislators to
introduce other voucher programs
before the end of the congressional
session, Mr. Cohen said.
The Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations of America also hailed
the vote, while the American Jewish
Congress said it was "a blow to public
school systems everywhere."

Peace Rumors
Lacking Substance?

Newspapers in Israel offer a daily bar-
rage of rumors of impending Israeli-
Palestinian peace deals, or of new
U.S.-Israel frictions, but the Washing-
ton scene in recent weeks has been
notable for a lack of talk about the
-\
moribund talks.
Recent expectations of a big U.S.
squeeze on the government of Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have
given way to an eerie silence. Leakers
aren't leaking, spokesmen aren't speak-