This Week

Brewing Battle Over School Vouchers

November ballot question finds Jews on both sides of a
Constitutional issue that touches classic Jewish "hot buttons."

The Voucher

DIANA LIEBERMAN
StaffWriter

A

nnetta Miller has been fighting against the
use of tax funds for private education for
more than 30 years, and she's not done yet.
A state school board member from
1971-1994, Miller faced challenges from fellow board
members, legislators and special-interest groups, cul-
minating in the statewide "Parochiad" vote in 1978.
Her vote was crucial in defeating efforts to obtain
state funds for private education, while effecting com-
promises that allowed special education and transporta-
tion services for children attending private schools.
"Every eight years, when I thought of doing
something else, I'd get talked into doing it again,"
Miller said of her position on the board.
This year, she is concerned again, as Michigan vot-
ers gear up for a Tuesday, Nov. 7 vote on a state con-
stitutional amendment that would allow some par-
ents to use tax funds to help send their children to
private schools.
The so-called "voucher proposal" would, if
passed, profoundly change primary and secondary
schools, both public and private.
.
Whether schools would be improved or harmed
by that change has stirred heated debate. And
Detroit's Jewish community is playing an active role
on both sides of the issue, often pitting mainstream
Jewish organizations against community heavy hit-

6/9
2000

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Voucher Proposal
At A Glance

Passage of the Nov. 7 voucher proposal would
change the state Constitution to:

•

• Let certain parents use about $3,100-$3,600
in itax money for tuition at participating pri-
vate and religious schools.
• Put vouchers in place for the 20012 002
oo1 year in d i stricts that
stat fail to gtuate
oI
nts an

ters, old-time liberals against new traditionalists.
Causing community members to get involved on
either side of the voucher debate are concerns about
separation of church and state, support for public
schools and aid for low-income students — all clas-
sic "hot-button" Jewish issues. Add to this the nag-
ging worry in some circles that the growth of Jewish
day schools will be impeded without eventual sup-
port from the public sector.
"The idea behind this proposal is contrary to
the intention of the Constitution — that every
child has the best public access to an education,"
said Miller, who now is a member of the Wayne

State University Board of Governors.
"Disseminating public funds to private and
parochial schools will eventually destroy what the
world has looked to as the first real attempt to educate
everybody," the Huntington Woods resident said.
As impassioned as this argument is, it doesn't
convince everyone.
Rabbi Karmi Gross, in his last month as principal
of Yeshivat Akiva in Southfield, said he did not see
any reason why parents who send their child to pri-
vate schools should not receive tax support, and this
choice ultimately should benefit the public schools.
"From everything I've read, it would create mar-
ket force pressure for the public schools to improve
themselves," he said. "I don't think the fear of mass
destruction of the public schools is justified. If it
forces them to compete, they will compete."

Demystifying Vouchers

Each side in the school voucher debate is pushing
hard to sway voters, with arguments that frequently
seem to add to the confusion.
The proposal's main provision would amend the
state Constitution to eliminate the ban against use
of public money for non-public schools.
If the proposal passes, a program beginning in
the 2001 - 2002 school year would provide funding
for parents to withdraw their children from "failing"
public schools districts and enroll them in private or
parochial schools. Whether Detroit would qualify is

