Word: voucher
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...proposing a voucher system that would subsidize the tuition of children who choose parochial schools, the Bush Administration is confronting one of the nation's sacrosanct principles: the First Amendment's stricture against "establishment of religion" creates a wall between church and state. That hurdle, while high, may not be impossible to surmount. Over the years the Supreme Court has wrestled with the distinction between direct funding of religious institutions, which is forbidden, and indirect aid that is designed to serve a secular purpose, which may be permissible...
...government aid -- direct or indirect -- to sectarian schools. In 1983, by a 5-to-4 vote, it let stand a Minnesota law that permits parents to deduct parochial school tuition from their state income taxes. Many experts believe there is a good chance the court would uphold a voucher plan like the one the Administration proposes. "It is exceedingly unlikely that this will be seen as a forbidden form of establishment," says Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe, a leading constitutional scholar. "Given the existing doctrine about the separation of church and state, I do not see a serious First Amendment...
Tribe also discussed the constitutionality of President Bush's recent proposal to introduce vouchers into the educational system. "There's nothing unconstitutional about a voucher system that's very broadly based," he said. "Something may be a terrible idea, but be constitutional," added Tribe, who counsels many in the Democratic Party...
While Cavanaugh agrees that the idea of less monopoly in government is a good one, he argues that the school voucher system would require gradual, rather than sudden, implemetation and provisions for children with special needs...
...Vouchers may not be the best or only solution to America's abysmal education situation, but in refusing to even consider reform or vouchers, the Chicago Principals' Association is doubly guilty. It neither wants to be held accountable by LSCs nor wants to have to compete on the open market for voucher money...