ACLU sues to stop Nevada’s new school voucher program
The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the constitutionality ofNevada’s new school voucher program, arguing in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the program violates the state’s prohibition against using public money for religious purposes.
“Parents who want their kids to go to private school are absolutely free to do so,” said Amy Rose, legal director for ACLU of Nevada. “Just not at taxpayer expense.”
The new Nevada program, created this year by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature, creates “educational savings accounts” that would allow any parent, regardless of income, to pull a child from the state’s public schools and take tax dollars with them to pay for private or parochial school.
Parents could also use the money — an average of $5,100 to $5,700, depending on family income — for transportation, technology or home schooling. Supporters describe it as an escape hatch from poor schools, while opponents say it drains public schools of needed funds.
“What we should be concerned about is fixing the public school system if it is damaged,” Rose said at a news conference Thursday. “I don’t think we should be taking money away from public schools and giving it to private schools.”
The Nevada treasurer’s office is writing regulations to implement the new program. A spokeswoman referred a request for comment on the lawsuit to the state attorney general, whose spokeswoman said she could not comment on pending litigation.
But Tim Keller, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice — a Virginia-based organization that helped state lawmakers draft the bill that created the Nevada program — vowed to defend the initiative from the ACLU’s “baseless and cynical lawsuit.”
Nevada’s state constitution prevents “public funds of any kind or character whatever” from being spent for sectarian purposes. The ACLU argues that ACLU sues to stop Nevada’s new school voucher program - The Washington Post:
