are school vouchers a good idea
Are School Vouchers a Good Idea? ... Legislators, school boards, education professionals, parent groups and community organizations are attempting to implement new ideas to help children in the failing educational system in this country, particularly in inner-city neighborhoods. Many members of these groups are advocates for the school voucher programs. The standard program proposed in dozens of states across the country would distribute monetary vouchers (typically valued between $2,500- $5,000) to parents of school-age children, usually in troubled inner-city school districts. Parents could then use the vouchers towards the cost of tuition at private schools, including those dedicated to religious indoctrination (Anti-Defamation League, 2001). The issue of school vouchers continues to be a largely divided issue. The controversy over school vouchers roots itself in everything from the Constitutional freedom of religion to the economic theories of Adam Smith. This paper will describe the arguments of both proponents and opponents of school vouchers. ... Simmons-Harris, the Cleveland, Ohio, school voucher case. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that a Cleveland program allowing parents to use publicly funded vouchers to pay tuition at private schools, including religious schools does not violate the U. ... This ruling placed the decision of vouchers in the hands of the states (Donovan, 2002). ... Supreme Court was a win for the proponents of school vouchers. It put an end to the argument posed by most opponents of vouchers, that allowing vouchers to be used for the tuition of religious based schools is a violation of the first amendment of the Constitution.