The definition of public education is changing rapidly and radically in our current political landscape. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the debate over publicly funded school voucher systems, which direct taxpayer funds to parents to offset the cost of tuition at the private schools of their choice. Tina Cheuk and Rand Quinn address how…

Tim Keller's article insightfully explores the flawed legal reasoning behind and potentially pernicious consequences of the Arizona Supreme Court's 2009 "Cain vs. Horne" ruling. He carefully examines the two fundamental flaws in the court's interpretative methodology: a failure to engage in a straightforward textual analysis of Arizona's…

Legal scrutiny of school voucher policies initially focused on the establishment clause concerning with allocating public dollars to schools sponsored by religious organizations. In recent years, advocates asserted that the exclusion of faith-based organizations from voucher plans that permit expenditures in secular private organizations violates…

There continues to be a significant debate as to the most effective means of providing North Carolina's children with the best possible education. The one point upon which a great majority agree is that, despite substantial increases in funding, public education is not meeting the needs of a large proportion of the state's students. This paper…

During 1985-86, 3,523 students took advantage of Minnesota's Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Act (PSEOA); 6.52 percent attended private colleges. In 1987, suit was brought challenging the constitutionality of PSEOA, alleging it violated the First Amendment establishment clause and the Minnesota State Constitution. This article examines this case…

In 1998, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court reversed the decision of the appellate court and ruled that the amended Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) did not violate the Establishment Clause or the Wisconsin Constitution. Examines the constitutionality of vouchers for both secular and sectarian private schools, as well as the policy…

Addresses the constitutionality of tuition-voucher programs that provide access to private, parochial schools. Surveys Establishment Clause jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court. Examines the Cleveland, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tuition-voucher programs, currently being litigated in the respective state courts, in an attempt to…

Asserts that the pressures on religious freedom are increasing especially in relation to the issue of religion in the public schools. Focuses on school prayer, the use of school facilities for religious activities, and the controversy surrounding school vouchers. Addresses when religious expression is permitted in public schools. (CMK)

Does a "school choice" program, under which state funds are disbursed on a neutral basis to parents in the form of a voucher to defray the cost of sending their children to a school of their choice, run afoul of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, or of the New Hampshire Constitution? No. A…

To help public schools experience free-market competition, Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander and President Bush propose parental choice among private, parochial, and public schools, supported by public financing for program design and tuition grants. Sidebars highlight church/state separation concerns and school choice experiments in…

Describes the facts and legal basis of federal court decisions in "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," a case before the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if Cleveland's school voucher program violates the Establish Clause. Discusses the possible educational, legal, and political consequences of the Court's decision. (On June 27, 2002, the Supreme…

In 2002 the Supreme Court decided that tuition vouchers for private and religious schools do not violate the First Amendment's establishment clause. With "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," the case in question, the Court put the school-choice debate back in the political arena, where it belongs, according to this position paper/policy brief.…