These are payments the government makes to a parent or on a parent�s behalf, to be used for a child�s education expenses. In Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida, for example, government funds support scholarships for needy students who wish to attend private schools.
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 a higher-performing public school.
- 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. Nearly 9,000 Florida students with special needs were given the opportunity to attend a private school during the 2002-2003 school year.
In 1999, lawsuits were filed challenging the constitutionality of the Opportunity Scholarship Program under several provisions of both the state and federal constitutions. The Leon County Circuit Court originally ruled the program did violate the Article IX, section 6, of the Florida Constitution. This ruling was reversed in October of 2000 by the First District Court of Appeals, which sent the case back to the lower court to deliberate on other questions of constitutionality.
In August 2002, the Leon County Circuit Court reheard the lawsuit and ruled the program violates Article I, section 3, of the Florida Constitution, which states no public funds may be used to aid any church, sect, religious denomination, or sectarian institution.
As of February 2004, the decision was being appealed and students continue to be able to participate in the program while the case is being appealed.
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.
Ohio
The Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program (CSTP) allow 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.
Scholarships amounts to parents of scholarship recipients will be based on the tuition of the participating school. The maximum, however, will is $2,700.00. The State will pay either 75% or 90% of the school's tuition not exceeding $3,000.00 depending upon gross family income.
The CSTP gives priority to low-income families, defined by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction based on the federal poverty level ($18,850 for a family of four in 2004). 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.
On Dec. 11, 2000 the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that 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 later appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which on June 27, 2002, upheld the program.
Currently, more than 4,000 children participate in the program.
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.
Washington D.C.
On January 22, 2004 Congress passed the D.C. School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, making Washington, D.C. the first federally funded voucher initiative in the country and the only one that will be administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
The $14 million voucher initiative launches a five-year scholarship program that allows low-income District of Columbia children to receive scholarships worth up to $7,500 to attend private and parochial schools. Currently for the 2005-06 school year, the program is at capacity with 1,705 students are using scholarships at 59 schools.
The program is part of Mayor Anthony Williams� three-sector education improvement initiative that also includes $13 million each for D.C. charter and public schools.
The program applies to children in kindergarten through 12th grade who qualify for the federal free and reduced-cost lunch program (185 percent of the federal poverty level, or $35,798 for a family of four in 2005). Priority will be given to students in public schools "in need of improvement" under No Child Left Behind.
In March 2004, the Department of Education, with input from the Mayor's Office, selected The Washington Scholarship Fund to administer opportunity scholarships
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 an estimated 13,231 students at 106 schools in Jan. 2004.
To qualify for the program, students must live in Milwaukee and their families must be at or below 1.75 times the federal poverty level ($30,043 for a family of four in 2004). 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.�