Should Cities and States Adopt School Voucher Programs?

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From the early days of our nation, misguided religious groups sought to compel all citizens to contribute their tax dollars to sectarian education. Fortunately, courageous leaders in both the religious and political communities stood up and said, "No!"

In 18th-century Virginia, for example, Enlightenment thinkers like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson joined forces with religious dissenters to free fellow citizens from the bondage of state-established religion. Through their efforts, a bill requiring taxpayers to support "teachers of the Christian religion" was defeated. Instead, the Virginia legislature in 1786 passed Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.

Five years later, following Virginia's example, the first Congress proposed adding to the U.S. Constitution a Bill of Rights. This set of amendments included provisions for religious freedom and church-state separation. The American people through the First Amendment declared that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."

For many years the U.S. Supreme Court barred most forms of tax aid to religious schools. By the late 1980s, however, the high court began allowing some kinds of "indirect" aid. In a troubling decision in 2002, five justices voted to uphold a program in Cleveland, Ohio, that gave tax funding to religious schools through vouchers. As a result, voucher advocates are now pressing for the enactment of similar programs all over the country.

It should be noted, however, that the Supreme Court did not rule that states must adopt voucher programs – only that they may do so under certain conditions. This decision has shifted the voucher battle from the courtrooms to the legislatures and Congress.

As legislators debate the issue, it's important to remember that the American people remain strongly opposed to religious school aid schemes. In 22 referenda since 1967, voters have resoundingly rejected ballot proposals designed to direct tax aid to parochial and other private schools. Referenda in California and Michigan in 2000 rejected vouchers by a two-to-one margin. Exit polls showed that voters from every racial, religious, political and socio-economic group cast ballots against vouchers in both states.