Written by Don Byrd
Advocates of school vouchers are asking the United States Supreme Court to hold that provisions of state constitutions that prohibit public funds from aiding religion violate the U.S. Constitution. Several state constitutions contain such taxpayer protections, which guarantee a stricter separation of church and state at the state level than is required by the First Amendment on the federal level.
Earlier this year, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled a voucher system in Douglas County is unlawful because it violates the “no aid to religion” mandate in Colorado’s constitution. (The Baptist Joint Committee filed a brief in that case urging the court to reject the voucher program.) Now, school voucher proponents are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Douglas County decision on the ground that “no aid” provisions are unlawfully discriminatory.
The Education Week blog Charters and Choice notes that the four organizations pushing for Supreme Court review believe that if “no aid to religion” provisions are found unconstitutional, it would “clear the way for school vouchers in all 50 states.” That would be a very unwelcome outcome. School vouchers are unpopular, are a drain from public school resources, and don’t generally yield lasting academic improvement.
They also send taxpayer funds to support religious education, which many state constitutions like Colorado’s explicitly forbid. States should be free to enact that restriction in furtherance of religious liberty goals.
For more on “no aid to religion” provisions, see Holly Hollman’s column discussing the BJC’s brief in the Colorado case.
