More Outrageous Education Deforms
Louisiana Supreme Court to Decide on Vouchers: The Louisiana Supreme Court will hear final arguments today on Louisiana's voucher and course choice programs. Those are the Jindal reforms that allow some public school students to get “scholarships” to attend private and religious schools or to take individual courses next year provided by various private groups. The Supreme Court has already received written briefs from both the plaintiffs and defendants of the voucher system and today will only hear limited oral arguments. There is concern among opponents of the voucher system that even though the constitution seems to clearly prohibit the use of the MFP for private schools, the election recently of a new Justice who campaigned on a conservative platform could sway the court against public school supporters.
In another development, new litigants have joined opponents and are challenging the vouchers on the grounds of separation of church and state. This story in the Monroe New Star points out that the ACLU and some religious groups are concerned that Louisiana's voucher program to religious schools is not only a violation of church and state but also has opened the door to many non-conventional religious groups receiving state aid to run their schools. If the Court agrees to consider this argument, we would have a much more powerful argument against religious school vouchers. The challenge to vouchers would no longer be limited to just the source of funding. My
In another development, new litigants have joined opponents and are challenging the vouchers on the grounds of separation of church and state. This story in the Monroe New Star points out that the ACLU and some religious groups are concerned that Louisiana's voucher program to religious schools is not only a violation of church and state but also has opened the door to many non-conventional religious groups receiving state aid to run their schools. If the Court agrees to consider this argument, we would have a much more powerful argument against religious school vouchers. The challenge to vouchers would no longer be limited to just the source of funding. My