School Vouchers in a Climate of Political Change

Abstract

Legal scrutiny of school voucher policies initially focused on the establishment clause concerning with allocating public dollars to schools sponsored by religious organizations. In recent years, advocates asserted that the exclusion of faith-based organizations from voucher plans that permit expenditures in secular private organizations violates equal protection and free exercise guarantees. In addition to legal arguments is today's imperative to reform education in ways that promote safe and effective learning environments. Proponents contend that open competition would place healthy pressure on both public and private schools, thus improving outcomes for all children. In contrast, opponents point to the diversion of tax dollars from public schools to support efforts to privatize and abandon the common school just to advance the interests of a small segment of the population. They also view voucher plans as highly divisive in fostering government entanglement with churches and serving as a catalyst for re-segregating public schools. The framework for initial analyses in this article is the evolution of voucher plans, including a historical account of the social unrest that increased demand for public support of privately sponsored schooling through the early 20th century. The perspective shifts from social and economic contexts to state and federal constitutional bases for legal challenges and the reluctance of courts to embrace free exercise and equal protection claims of voucher advocates. Next, there is a description of the legal strategies available to today's voucher rivals in the aftermath of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002), which effectively eliminated federal barriers to voucher expansion. The final section describes the parallel course of early school finance lawsuits and our forecast of school voucher litigation in tandem with a discussion of the political struggles around school choice which offer the most promise for influencing judicial outcomes in state courts nationwide.

Friedman or Jencks? Early childhood education vouchers in practice

“…Some also maintain that segregation may occur as schools may "cream skim" students from better financial backgrounds and with a higher academic ability (Jongbloed & Koelman, 2000). In other words, these critics contend that education vouchers would not necessarily improve parental choices or the quality of education but would almost certainly affect the equality and stability of education provision (Carswell, 2007;Loomis, Rodriguez, Honeycutt, & Arellano, 2006;Sutton & King, 2011;Usher & Kober, 2011). Even so, proponents argue that the market is a self-regulating mechanism formed by the aggregate of parental choices, and it is not necessarily fair and equal.…”

Educational Considerations, vol. 41(2) Full Issue

“…Vouchers have a long history in the United States. For example, the states of Maine and Vermont have used publicly funded vouchers for over 150 years to provide tuition for secondary students whose districts do not have a high school (Sutton and King 2011). These vouchers can be used only at other public schools or nonsectarian private (nonprofit) schools.…”

Social Enterprise and Christian School Finance: Receptivity of ACSI Christian School Leaders in Mid-America

“…One of the other sources of funds that some private schools have turned to is government vouchers (Loeb, Valant, & Kasman, 2011;Sutton & King, 2011). Vouchers have been a source of a great deal of controversy in recent years.…”

“…Vouchers have been a source of a great deal of controversy in recent years. Some states have found ways to completely ban them (Sutton & King, 2011) while others have embraced them (Loeb et al, 2011 (Howell, West, & Peterson, 2011). Some private schools are finding this public support for vouchers to be a stabilizing force in a time of otherwise falling enrollment (Meyer, 2007).…”