Vouchers
UPDATE: In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a Cleveland, Ohio school voucher program. Low-income parents in the Cleveland Public School District may receive money for the purpose of sending their children to private schools, including religious schools. The Court determined that the Cleveland program was “neutral with respect to religion.” For more information please see: Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. ____ (2002).
Simmons-Harris v. Zelman, 54 F. Supp.2d (N.D. Ohio 1999)
In 1995, the Ohio legislature enacted a school voucher program in the Cleveland Public Schools as a result of a federal court take over of the Cleveland Public Schools. The voucher program provided scholarships to enable students to attend "alternative schools" and a "tutorial program" for children attending the Cleveland Public Schools. The program was challenged on the grounds that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Private schools within the geographic boundaries of the Cleveland Public Schools and public schools adjacent to the district were eligible to participate. Students whose family income was not more than two hundred percent (200%) of the federally established poverty level received ninety percent (90%) of their school tuition, other scholarship recipients whose family income was above this threshold received seventy-five percent (75%) of their tuition.
The federal district court based its ruling on the question of whether the voucher program had the impermissible effect of advancing religion by resulting in government indoctrination of religious beliefs or creating an incentive to attend religious schools. It was determined that the program violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Citing the United States Supreme Court ruling in Community for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 576, 93 S.C. 2955 (1973), the court found that there was no attempt under the voucher program to guarantee that state aid only supported secular, as opposed to religious educational functions of the participating schools. The court found that the vast majority of schools participating in the voucher programs were church-based thus denying parents the choice between sending their children to sectarian versus non-sectarian schools. Further, it was determined that the aid provided under the voucher program directly benefited the religious function of the schools. As a result, the voucher program was found to have the effect of advancing religion through government-supported religious instruction. The court’s ruling bars the State of Ohio from administering the voucher program, but based upon stipulation of the parties, the court stayed its order pending review by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.