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The national PTA, the NAACP and the ACLU claim that Florida's "opportunity scholarships'' violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution and that religion and the state should not commingle. It is a claim that is politically and fiscally driven. The legal and practical arguments are illusory, and do not serve the interest of education quality.
The Ohio and Wisconsin supreme courts have already decided on tuition programs, and both have supported the right of parents to choose the school that best serves their child. In each case, the constitutional question is resolved by legislative design. Providing state funds to a sectarian school is unconstitutional because it supports a particular religious institution. But when the state supports a parent's decision to select the best school for his child with neutrality (meaning that the school can be public, private sectarian or nonsectarian), then it is constitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court has also held that the Establishment Clause is not violated by long-standing programs that stem from the Title I and Title VI services of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. These include free bus transportation for all schoolchildren, textbooks loaned by the state to all schools and state tax deductions to all parents for costs of attending public, private or parochial schools. And public funds have long supported higher education with programs such as the GI Bill and Pell grants allowing students to attend religious schools, including Georgetown, Notre Dame and Yeshiva University.
Indeed, as Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe said, ``Any objection ... to a voucher program would have to be policy-based and could not rest on legal doctrine.''
The practical side is that state money frequently commingles with that of faith-based organizations. It's common practice for federal and state health and human services to support faith-based community organizations. For example, the Florida Department of Children and Family Services will spend $46 million this year for social work performed by Catholic, Baptist, Jewish, Lutheran and other faith-based organizations. The state also funds religious institutions to administer juvenile justice programs.
In fact, both the Democratic and GOP presidential front-runners, Al Gore and George W. Bush, advocate increased reliance on the already prevalent faith-based community organizations that provide social services for the poor, sick and aged. They do this because the programs work and because no one has a financial or political interest to protect.
The opposition to opportunity scholarships is neither legal nor practical, but self-interested. People have a vested interest in protecting the funding structure and job security of the present education system. Many in our public schools deserve the security, but some do not. To be sure, failure is too frequent. School choice cracks that security and aligns the funding with a parent's choice of school. With choice, the funding of education is child-centered, not system-centered. So, in order to retain and attract students - and their allocated state and local funding - the schools have to reach out and cater to the parents. In so doing, they cannot guarantee jobs but must focus on the quality of their academic programs. The effect is already evident.
In Hillsborough County, schools Superintendent Earl Lennard made statewide news when he vowed to take a 5 percent pay cut, or a personal loss of $8,250, if any school in Hillsborough County receives an F grade. To meet this high expectation, Lennard promised his schools the support they need, including reduced class sizes for select ``D'' schools and money for after-school or Saturday tutoring at all schools.
The A+ Plan for Education program supports struggling public schools with swift program and financial support. But if this does not work, the program makes sure that years of a child's education will not be lost while the district debates reform. All parents, rich and poor, have a money-back guarantee.
This is a politically and fiscally motivated lawsuit that distracts us from public education's primary goal: educating our children.
Link to: more on the A+ Plan and school choice in Florida.
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Dave DeSchryver is Research Director of The Center for Education Reform, a national, independent, nonprofit advocacy organization. Founded in 1993, the Center provides support and guidance to individuals, community and civic groups, policy-makers and others who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools.
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