School vouchers slow to spread

[Judi Lynn]

Thursday, May 05, 2005
School vouchers slow to spread
By Kavan Peterson, Stateline.org Staff Writer


Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing school vouchers three years ago, the controversial school-choice option has been slow to spread.

Now, the stage is set for the first new states to launch programs to use state tax dollars to help pay for private and religious school tuitions.

Utah in March became the first state since Florida in 1999 to pass a statewide voucher program, though it is limited to special education students. Ohio’s Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to send a proposal to GOP Gov. Bob Taft by June that would build on Cleveland ’s existing voucher program. It would make state-funded tuition vouchers available to public school students with poor math and reading scores throughout the state.

Then with these additions, tuition vouchers will be in use within just six states and the District of Columbia . While Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have given their approval to tuition vouchers, state courts and state lawmakers still are putting up roadblocks. The result is some states are detouring from vouchers in favor of alternatives that still expand parents’ educational choices, such as offering tuition tax credits for private and religious school tuition payments.
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http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=29789

[struggle4progress]

1. Vouchers are part of Republican's attack on the notion of common ..

.. good, so it's nice to see they've not caught on.