Editorial School vouchers
Steinfels, Margaret O'Brien
School vouchers State aid to religious or private primary and secondary schools in the form of tuition vouchers or a tuition tax credit is a worthy public-policy goal. Vouchers would benefit...
...That, at least, should be the aim...
...Vouchers, by giving tax monies to parents and not directly to religious or private schools, promise to remedy that injustice without violating the First Amendment's "endorsement" test...
...How the public and private schools can best work together for the national good is the real educational and public-policy question...
...Only those without financial resources lack real choice...
...In America, religious communities have long played a central role in building such ties...
...No single model or means of education is appropriate to the needs and desires of all persons," a recent statement on educational reform by United States Catholic Conference (Origins, February 22,1996) reminds us...
...A picture of the public schools on the verge of abandonment is overdrawn...
...Such worries are not unreasonable, but they are exaggerated...
...But the argument for diversity in schooling must not rest on free exercise or autonomy rights alone...
...In pursuit of the common good of educational excellence for all-especially in a society as pluralistic as our own-the state should encourage diversity, not monopoly, in schooling...
...In that light, the financial disability historically imposed on families choosing education in a religious setting seems an obvious restriction of free speech and free exercise...
...Those with money can buy their way into wealthy towns or private schools...
...and would benefit many poor families whose children often attend unsafe and ineffective inner-city public schools...
...These rulings suggest that financial assistance given to individuals rather than schools may pass constitutional scrutiny...
...The Supreme Court's unnecessarily broad interpretation of the First Amendment's establishment clause has long raised questions about the so-called "wall of separation" between church and state...
...Admittedly, the devil is in the details...
...Favoring one sect or faith, or conversely, placing special disabilities on religious exercise, contradict the intent of the First Amendment...
...Vouchers would benefit numerous families burdened with paying for both public schools and for the schools of their choice...
...Those virtues can only be nurtured through the attachments of community membership...
...Philosophical allegiance to the public schools, even among many religious Americans, is quite strong, as the recent defeat of school-choice initiatives in California and other states indicates...
...It is predicted that vouchers will encourage an exodus from the public schools that will leave behind only the most difficult or unprepared students...
...To help insure a sound tax base for the public schools, perhaps vouchers should be means-tested as well...
...Withholding tax dollars from taxpayers who choose religious schools for their children imposes a double infirmity: It circumscribes religious freedom while depriving our democracy of much needed moral resources...
...Such fears may be justified, but the experience of Catholic and other religiously affiliated colleges suggest that a middle way can be found...
...Citizenship," writes philosopher Michael Sandel (Democracy's Discontent, Harvard), "requires certain habits and dispositions, a concern for the whole, an orientation to the common good...
...would facilitate variety in the types of schooling available...
...In other words, there is good reason to believe that in doing the right thing in regard to those seeking nonpublic education for their children, we will also be doing the best thing for all Americans...
...For vouchers to correct such inequality they must cover close to 90 percent of average per-pupil cost in any region...
...That interest cannot be served by public schools alone...
...More than thirty years of federal aid to religious universities and the experience of almost every other Western democracy demonstrate the wisdom of such an approach...
...Indeed, the virtues of common concern and individual responsibility that religion at its best cultivates are indispensable to democracy...
...Confronted with an expanded private-school franchise, there are good reasons to think that public schools will rise to the challenge, not collapse...
...The separation between church and state should be real, but the wall should be permeable enough to encourage the vigorous expression of religious opinion and attachments...
...Contrary to the Supreme Court's strict separationist view, religious commitment, tempered by the discipline of democratic practice and rights, is no threat to tolerance or civic peace...
...Inequality in school financing and quality is a national scandal...
...The state's interest in an educated, informed, and engaged citizenry is compelling...
...At the same time, vouchers will lift the financial penalty from parents who choose religiously oriented or private schools, correcting a long-standing injustice and promoting institutions and virtues vital to our civic culture...
...A variety of schemes for tuition vouchers is before many state legislatures...
...And finally, by stimulating diversity and regulated competition, vouchers may even bring greater efficiency and energy to the public schools...
...In sum, giving the very poor a measure of financial control over the education of their children will greatly expand their stake in the schools and the community...
...State laws funnel-ing public funds directly to religious institutions have been ruled unconstitutional...
...School choice" has been the rallying cry for those opposed to what they call the state monopoly on school funding...
...Despite the constitutional guarantee of equal education for all students, school funding remains tied to local property taxes...
...Nevertheless, the Court has allowed public monies to pay for the busing of children to parochial and private schools, and has even approved of a Minnesota law granting tuition tax credits for the same...
...The quality of public schooling can thus usually be traced to income level...
...As a matter of public policy, voucher plans should be calibrated to bring maximum benefit not to those who can already afford private schools, but to those who cannot...
...Perhaps the most persuasive objection to vouchers concerns the potential damage to an already besieged public school system...
...Opposition to vouchers rests on strong court precedents, but often finds allies among religious groups who fear that the strings attached to government aid compromise religious integrity...
...Most important, there is considerable evidence that many public schools do a good job (see Philip Altbach, p. 33...
...One possible way to safeguard against such an outcome would be to require schools accepting vouchers to reserve a certain percentage of their enrollment for children who are economically disadvantaged...
...The social patterns of most communities as well as decades of tax investment continue to make public schooling attractive for the vast majority of families...
Vol. 123 • April 1996 • No. 7
