Letters to the Editor: Palm Beach Post
Article failed to examine arguments for vouchers
10/21/03
I hope no one who read the article about the "debate" over school vouchers
("Religious schools rely on vouchers," Oct. 12) mistook it for balanced
constitutional analysis. The reporters neglected to mention that the U.S.
Supreme Court recently upheld a school voucher program in Cleveland -- similar
to Florida's Opportunity Scholarships -- even though 99 percent of Cleveland's
voucher students went to religious schools.
Nor did they note that the language of the Florida Constitution upon which
voucher opponents rely is known as a "Blaine Amendment," a sad remnant of
long-past anti-Catholic bigotry. They also failed to explain that Florida
college students have received "vouchers" (otherwise known as "scholarships") to
attend religious schools for decades without opposition. Another fact the
writers did not report: The U.S. Supreme Court soon will decide whether
excluding religious options from such scholarship programs, as voucher opponents
urge Florida to do, amounts to unconstitutional religious discrimination.
Perhaps it's time for school choice opponents to stop worrying about where
Florida children are educated, and to worry instead about whether Florida
children are educated.
CLARK NEILY, senior attorney
Institute for Justice
Washington