Lay Down The Cornerstone: Give Parents School Choice.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(BRAIN TRUST)

Byline: SALLY PIPES

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a school-choice plan in Cleveland constitutes true private choice, not state furtherance of religion, and is therefore constitutional. Thursday's 5-4 ruling is a victory for all Americans, a blow against the failed government education monopoly and a lesson for policy-makers nationwide.

Those who welcome the ruling as an Emancipation Proclamation do not exaggerate. No longer will the most disadvantaged children be trapped in failed, dangerous schools such as those in Cleveland, where the graduation rate was a pathetic 28%. A federal court shifted control of Cleveland schools to the Ohio state legislature, which in 1996 decided to give choice a chance.

The plan targeted some 4,000 low-income parents, 75% minority, with incomes under $20,000. Single mothers head 70% of the participating families. The plan provides a voucher of up to $2,250 to help pay tuition. Most of the parents opted to send their children to private parochial schools, for good reason.

Parents' Choice

These schools charge no more than $2,500 per year, so parents can afford them. These schools also have a record of achieving better results than the government school system, even though they spend much less. The scholarships were valid at any school, but local public schools refused to accept any choice students.

Since the plan allowed parents to choose private religious schools, opponents argued that the program violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment. In 1999, a federal judge struck down the Cleveland choice plan, sending the case (Zelman vs. Simmons-Harris) to the Supreme Court.