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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Voucher Battles Continue Across the Country | NEA Today

Voucher Battles Continue Across the Country | NEA Today:

Voucher Battles Continue Across the Country

November 6, 2013 by twalker  
Filed under Featured NewsTop Stories
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By Rita Zeidner
In August, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a New Orleans federal court to enjoin the state from awarding school vouchers to students attending school in districts operating under a federal desegregation order. According to DOJ, Louisiana has given vouchers to students in at least 22 of the 34 districts remaining under desegregation orders, undermining the desegregation process.
Louisiana’s voucher program suffered an additional challenge in May when, in an unrelated case, the Supreme Court of Louisiana upheld a lower court’s ruling that the voucher program violates the state’s constitution by illegally diverting money earmarked for public schools to private and religious institutions.
At least two other state courts, however, were more favorable to voucher programs.
The Indiana Supreme Court concluded in May that the state’s two-year-old school program doesn’t violate the state’s required separation between church and state—even when voucher dollars fund religious 

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