Bishops' brief argues for school vouchers - Nation - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, case challenging use of vouchers for church schools - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 7, 2001 by Gill Donovan

The fact that a majority of Ohio parents whose children are eligible for state vouchers use them to pay tuition at religious schools doesn't make the program unconstitutional, according to a brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the Supreme Court will decide whether Ohio's Scholarship and Tutorial Program violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution by allowing tax-funded vouchers to be used at religious schools.

The "amicus," or "friend-of-the-court," brief by the bishops' conference argues that the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals erred when it found the program unconstitutional because a majority of the schools attended by students using the vouchers are religious.

The voucher program was created after a federal judge in 1995 declared the Cleveland schools were being mismanaged and put them under the authority of the state superintendent of public instruction. The state Legislature responded by creating, a program that provides for vouchers of up to $4,000 to children in low-income families. The vouchers can be used to pay tuition at participating public or private schools or to pay for private tutors.

The 6th Circuit's conclusion that the program is unconstitutional wrongly relied on a 1973 Supreme Court decision on a New York program that directly funded private schools, said the bishops' conference brief.

According to the brief, the high court has ruled in several cases since that 1973 decision to uphold the constitutionality of allowing funds for things such as a sign-language interpreter or reading tutors to be used by students who attend religious schools.

Also, unlike the program in the 1973 case, the Ohio program provides funds directly to students, not to schools, it said.