Allright, so here's a little background on vouchers. I know that you all probably know a lot about this, but this is just to set the tone for the debate. Vouchers are given to students that live in school districts that either don't provide a school for the student or the school is significantly below performance standards. When that happens, the government can provide vouchers for the amount (or maybe a lesser amount) to attend a private school.
So here's the dilema. Over 70% of private schools have a religious affiliation and most of those are Catholic schools. So should students receive vouchers to attend these schools? Doesn't this violate the established church clause of the first amendment? Well, a Miami school district believes so. A friend of mine told me that his friend used a voucher to go to a Catholic school and it was deemed unconstitutional.
However, what if there are no other private schools in that district or in the area? What if other private schools are not as good as the religious private school? The government has been pushing charter and magnet schools to increase school choice, but doesn't this decision contradict that?
I personally think that vouchers should only be provided for private schools if there are no other acceptable schools in the area. What's your opinion?
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Since the student is choosing to go to the cristian school, they are not being forced to worship in any kind of way, which is what the first amendment is about. Separation of church and state is not in the first amendment. the government should want to provide the best education for the student, and if that means sending them to a christian school, should they choose to attend, then the government should be just as willing to support that as they would if they were sending them to a non-religious private school.
Since the student is choosing to go to the cristian school, they are not being forced to worship in any kind of way, which is what the first amendment is about. Separation of church and state is not in the first amendment. the government should want to provide the best education for the student, and if that means sending them to a christian school, should they choose to attend, then the government should be just as willing to support that as they would if they were sending them to a non-religious private school.