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Tax-Supported Scholarships (Vouchers)
Florida
Maine
Ohio
Vermont
Wisconsin
Links to other sites
Florida
Florida's Legislature and Governor have enacted two statewide programs that let parents use tax support to enroll their children in private religious and non-religious schools.
• Students are eligible for the A+ Opportunity Scholarship Program (A+OSP) if their assigned public school is designated "failing" for two years in a four-year period as determined by the Florida Department of Education. The scholarship is worth up to $3,500 and is valid through the highest grade served by the failing school. Parents may enroll eligible students at private schools or at other public schools. In 2000-01, 51 Pensacola students attended five private schools and 85 Pensacola students attended other public schools.
• Students with disabilities whose parents determine that they are not making adequate progress at their assigned public school are eligible for the McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program (McKay Scholarships Program). Scholarship amounts are based on the student's needs and average about $6,500. In 2000-01, more than 1,000 students participated. More than 105 private Florida schools accepted eligible students, who also may enroll in other public schools. This fall, the number of participating private schools is expected to rise to at least 295, and the number of special needs students is estimated to reach at least 3,000.
On October 3, 2000, the First District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida ruled that the A+ Program was consistent with Article IX, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution. That provision requires the State of Florida to maintain a uniform system of free public schools.
The appellate court ruling reversed a trial court decision holding that the A+OSP violated Article IX, Section 1. The trial court reasoned that the mandate for a system of free public schools prohibited Florida from providing public funds to students in private schools. The unanimous three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal disagreed. It reasoned that Article IX, Section 1 did not prohibit the State from financing private education alternatives so long as it fulfills its commitment to maintain a public school system.
In April the Florida Supreme Court declined to review the ruling by the First District Court of Appeals for the State of Florida. This move upheld the constitutionality of the A+OSP.
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Maine
Since 1954, Maine has provided private or public school tuition for children in rural school districts that do not have their own public high schools. Maine reimburses parents who live in districts without a public school for the cost of sending their children to a non-religious private school, either within or outside the state, or to a public school in a neighboring district of choice. The town of residence pays the tuition, capped at the average cost of educating a student in Maine's public high schools. During the 1998-1999 school year, 14,541 students participated in the program. Of those, 5,295 attended 39 private schools.
This tuition system has existed in some form in the state for over 200 years. The program initially included religious as well as non-religious schools; however, in 1980, the Maine Attorney General issued an opinion indicating that the practice of paying tuition for students to attend religious schools violated the U.S. Constitution's establishment clause. As a result, the Maine legislature passed the current law that excludes religious schools from the tuition system
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Ohio
The five-year old Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program (CSTP) allows students in grades K-8 to receive scholarships to attend private non-religious or religious schools. The CSTP also provides tutoring grants for students in public schools. The scholarship portion of the program has grown from 1,994 students in 1996-97 to 3,908 in 2000-01.
The CSTP gives priority to low-income families, defined by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction based on the federal poverty level ($17,650 for a family of four in 2001). The maximum scholarship has been $2,250 since the program's inception, and thus has declined in real terms. Special needs students may receive larger scholarships based on individual need. According to the state's program evaluator, scholarships and tutoring grants are awarded by lottery.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on December 11, 2000, that the CSTP violated the religious establishment clause of the United States Constitution. Previously, the Ohio Supreme Court had reached the opposite conclusion.
The state of Ohio has appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which has not yet determined whether it will accept the case. In June 2001, the U.S. Solicitor General petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. In a separate petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Institute for Justice (IJ) argued that the Court should use the Cleveland case as a basis for clarifying a variety of conflicting lower court cases. If this case is accepted, it could lead to a definitive nationwide ruling on the constitutionality of tax-supported programs that let parents choose private and religious schools for their children.
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Vermont
Since 1869, Vermont has provided tuition for children in certain rural school districts that do not have their own public schools, allowing them to attend public schools in other districts or private schools. In 1998-1999, about 400 students attended private schools under the program.
Parents are reimbursed for the cost of sending their children to a non-religious private school or a public school in a neighboring district or state of choice; boarding schools are not included. The town's school board pays the students' tuition expenses. If the student chooses an independent school, the voters of the town school district can decide whether to pay an amount equal to the state's average union high school tuition, with parents required to make up the difference if this amount is below the actual tuition charged. In some areas, union districts have been created to centralize high school attendance from small rural towns in which families do not have the option of being reimbursed for private school costs.
The tuition program initially included religious as well as non-religious schools; in 1961, however, a ruling by the Vermont Supreme Court prohibited the inclusion of religiously affiliated schools. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a case in which Vermont parents argued their children should be allowed to attend religious schools under Vermont's program.
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Wisconsin
The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) is the nation's oldest program giving low-income families vouchers to enroll their children in non-religious and religious private schools. It has grown from 341 students at seven schools in 1990-91 to 9638 students at 103 schools in 2000-01.
To qualify for the program, students must live in Milwaukee and their families must be at or below 175% of the federal poverty level ($30,913 for a family of four in 2001-02). Private schools participating in the program must admit all eligible choice students and use a random selection process when applications exceed available space.
Opponents of school choice have twice challenged the constitutionality of the MPCP, first when it was enacted in 1990 and again when it was expanded in 1995 to include religious schools.
Each time, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the program. During the three-year legal challenge to the 1995 legislation, the Court delayed the participation of religious schools in the MPCP.
On June 10, 1998, the Court upheld the constitutionality of all aspects of the expanded MPCP. As reported in the June 11 edition of The New York Times, the court found that the program did not violate the First Amendment's separation of church and state because the program "has a secular purpose" and "will not have the primary effect of advancing religion."
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Web Links to information and resources on Tax-supported Vouchers
EPIC: EPIC (Empowering Parents for Informed Choices) is an interactive website providing information about public, private, and religious K-12 schools in Milwaukee. A unique group of collaborators led by UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives and Research and PAVE (Partners Advancing Values in Education) has developed a comprehensive database to provide parents with information about the K-12 educational opportunities in Milwaukee.
Florida Child: FloridaChild wants more Florida families to have the opportunity to decide how their children will be educated, from their earliest years to when they are on their own. This website helps connect Florida parents with the range of education options available to them in the state.
Florida DOE, Choice Office: The Choice Office provides Florida parents with a one-stop information source for charter schools, nonpublic schools, home schooling, the McKay Scholarship Program, the Opportunity Scholarship Program, and the new corporate tax credit scholarship program. The Choice Office also assists Florida districts in creating their own choice plans for more open access to public school choice.
School Choice Committee: This organization is dedicated to the development of school choice in Ohio, including scholarships, community schools, tax credits and other options. The Committee consists of business and community leaders, educators, ministers, elected officials and policy organizations.
SchoolChoiceInfo.Org: This website, sponsored by Marquette University's Institute for the Transformation of Learning and BAEO, provides up-to-date news, research, and information on school vouchers. It also profiles parents whose children participate in the Cleveland, Florida, and Milwaukee voucher programs.
Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation: The Friedman Foundation strives to educate parents, public policy makers and organizations about the need for a shift of power to the disenfranchised parents of America who have limited choices and voices in the education of their children. The Foundation serves as a resource for parents and community groups who want parental choice in education. The Friedman Foundation is best known for advancing market-based solutions for improving K - 12 education.
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Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)
1710 Rhode Island Avenue NW, Floor 12, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-429-2236 Fax: 202-429-2237