ENGINE COMPUTER DIAGNOSTICS

Voucher 'Victory

School-choice advocates see gain
in Ohio court ruling,

DANIEL KURTZMAN

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Washinvon

S

chool voucher proponents
are claiming victory in an
Ohio Supreme Court ruling
that upholds the controver-
sial practice of giving low-income stu-
dents taxpayer-funded scholarships to
use at parochial schools.
Although the court last Friday
struck down a Cleveland voucher pro-
gram because of a technicality, it
ruled that the program does not vio-
late the separation of church and
state, clearing the way for the state to
try again.
Supporters of vouchers in the
Jewish community say the decision
amounts to losing a battle, but win-
ning the larger war.
The ruling "continues to build
momentum for school choice initia-
tives," said Nathan Diament, director
of the Orthodox Union's Institute for
Public Affairs, adding that it "is only
going to encourage people because
they see" that voucher programs are
constitutional if they are structured
properly.
In contrast, Marc Stern, co-director
of the American Jewish Congress'
legal department, said the ruling
comes as a disappointment.
"It may mean for the moment they
can't have a voucher plan in Ohio,
but substantively it's a defeat," he
said.
The debate over school vouchers
has sharply divided the Jewish com-
munity. Most Jewish organizations
oppose vouchers, saying it violates the
separation of church and state while
undermining public education.
But others, mostly Orthodox-and
politically conservative Jews, favor the
idea, arguing that vouchers are needed
to provide better access to a quality
Jewish education.
The Cleveland program, one of
several pilot voucher programs around
the country, provides tuition vouchers
for some 4,000 low-income students
to attend the private school of their
choice, including religious schools.
Milwaukee has the largest such
program, with as many as 15,000 stu-
dents receiving aid. The Wisconsin

31

Supreme Court last year upheld the
program,•saying it "has a secular pur-
pose" and "will not have the primary
effect of advancing religion."
Florida, meanwhile, last month
approved the nation's first statewide
voucher program, raising hopes
among voucher advocates for the
expansion of vouchers around the
country.
Litigation over other programs is
pending in Arizona, Maine, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont.
David Zwiebel, general counsel
and director of government affairs for
Agudath. Israel of America, an
Orthodox group, said he hopes the
decisions upholding vouchers by the
two state supreme courts will begin to
turn the voucher debate away from
constitutional concerns.
"The more we have courts clarify-
ing that this is not unconstitutional,
the more we'll be able to hone in on
the public policy issues, which is real-
ly the debate that should be taking
place," he said.
The technicality on which the
Ohio Supreme Court struck down the
voucher program was based on the
Ohio Constitution's "single-subject
rule," which requires that each piece
of legislation only address one issue.
The 1995 legislation that created
the voucher program was included in
the state's general spending bill for
that year. Because of the contentious-
ness surrounding the issue, the court
ruled, vouchers needed to be the sub-
ject of a stand-alone bill.
At the same time, the court con-
cluded that the program did not
breach the separation of church and
state because it "has a secular legisla-
tive purpose, does not have the pri-
mary effect of advancing religion, and
does not excessively entangle govern-
ment with religion."
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft said he would
support reinstating the program,
which would involve lawmakers draft-
ing new legislation to abide by the
court's ruling .
Voucher opponents, led by the
Ohio Education Association and the
Ohio Federation of Teachers, have
vowed to fight any attempt to revive
the program in the legislature. I 1

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6/4
1999

Detroit Jewish News 11

