School vouchers a problem

On Aug. 5, a Leon County circuit court overturned Florida's statewide school voucher program, citing a violation of the state's constitution. The program, part of Governor Jeb Bush's 1999 education reform plan, offers the parents of children attending the lowest-ranked Florida public schools the choice of sending their children to other public schools, or using state-funded vouchers to send their children to private schools, many of which are religiously affiliated. \nArticle 1, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution states that "No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution." Circuit Judge P. Kevin Davey, who made the ruling, said the constitution is "clear and unambiguous" concerning the prevention of tax-funded vouchers to religious schools.\nThe state argued that the voucher program gives aid to parents, and not to schools. It is then the parents' choice as to whether or not they decide to send their child to a private school. Nonetheless, the result is that state revenue is "taken from the public treasury" and given to a "sectarian institution." Parents who choose to send their students to private schools must endorse their voucher checks over to those schools. The constitution accounts for this ambiguity by prohibiting state aid to religious institutions regardless of whether the aid is received "directly or indirectly." \nAdditionally, the state claimed that money received from school vouchers is not "in aid" of the religious schools who receive it, to which Davey replied, "It cannot be logically, legally, or persuasively argued that the receipt of these funds does not aid or assist the institution in a meaningful way." The state's claims were unsubstantiated and easily dismissed. \nThe prohibition clause was written into Florida's Constitution in 1885. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization founded to protect religious liberties and church-state separation, found that 37 state constitutions prohibit the distribution of tax funds to sectarian institutions. Americans United said that these "Blaine amendments" (named after former Maine Representative James G. Blaine, who in 1875 urged Congress to pass an analogous amendment to the U.S. Constitution) will be vital in future victories against similar school voucher programs. The Associated Press reports that legislators are planning to introduce voucher bills in as many as 20 states, including Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado. \nThe Leon County circuit court made the right ruling in overturning Bush's school voucher program. Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said in response to the ruling, "The court courageously upheld the state's explicit constitutional prohibition against diverting tax dollars from needed improvements in neighborhood public schools to private and sectarian schools." Florida's public education problems must be addressed, but not at the expense of its constitutional guarantee to keep taxpayers' money out of the hands of sectarian institutions.