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14 States Have School Choice Voucher Programs

The separation of church and state aside (which should be the end of the conversation, really)
Still disagree. Look at it from the other side, it’s unconstitutional to deny a church or religious organization an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status.
 
Yes and no. Local taxes for schools go to schools no matter the enrollment. For state, my understanding is the difference is back in the pool so the $2K that does not get included in the voucher is added to the pool and thus gets added to the amount per pupil.
Like I said, some kids going private to public could be integrated without much change, but not likely when looking at school district as a whole. If CR Xavier closed you’d have ~700 students added back to the public high schools and you’d bet your ass you’d need to hire more teachers, supports staff, and likely more facilities.

No, public schools do not end up with more funding per student as a result of this, unless other states operate it way differently from what I understand, totally possible I’m mistaken.

And yeah if Xavier were to close that would potentially add an enormous strain on CR, though some of them also come from the surrounding CR metro area as well. Then again, that’s also part of the argument here. Myself and others would propose that public schools already need more funding. Rare is the public school in any decently sized city like CR that has an avg class size for required subjects of less than 25, and 30 or sometimes more is not uncommon either. Whereas private schools are usually in the low 20s, which makes a HUGE difference.
 
Still disagree. Look at it from the other side, it’s unconstitutional to deny a church or religious organization an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status.
Except when one is actually educating people the principles of a religion. The first amendment was meant to prevent exactly what these states are doing. That's some seriously twisted logic making to make that argument. But the sad thing is with the way the courts have been stacked, it will probably hold up.
 
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Still disagree. Look at it from the other side, it’s unconstitutional to deny a church or religious organization an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status.

For the record, as long as family can use a school voucher for any private school without restriction I don’t have a major issue with that side of it - I went to private school k-12 myself. I just don’t believe that money should simultaneously be taken from public schools as well. Everyone pays taxes, of which part will fund public education. It is YOUR choice whether or not to send your kids to public or private school.
 
Except when one is actually educating people the principles of a religion. The first amendment was meant to prevent exactly what these states are doing. That's some seriously twisted logic making to make that argument. But the sad thing is with the way the courts have been stacked, it will probably hold up.
Not all private schools are religious and not all religious schools force religion curriculum. Plus, similar issues have already gone to the SCOTUS several times with approval.

2002 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris was a case brought forth to the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment even if the vouchers could be used for private, religious schools. 5-4

2017 Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United Statesheld that a Missouri program that denied a grant to a religious school for playground resurfacing, while providing grants to similarly situated non-religious groups, violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. 7-2

2020 Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue was a landmarkUnited States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that a state-based scholarship program that provides public funds to allow students to attend private schools cannot discriminate against religious schools under the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution. 5-4
 
Not all private schools are religious and not all religious schools force religion curriculum. Plus, similar issues have already gone to the SCOTUS several times with approval.

2002 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris was a case brought forth to the United States Supreme Court that upheld an Ohio program that used school vouchers. The Court decided that the program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment even if the vouchers could be used for private, religious schools. 5-4

2017 Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United Statesheld that a Missouri program that denied a grant to a religious school for playground resurfacing, while providing grants to similarly situated non-religious groups, violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. 7-2

2020 Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue was a landmarkUnited States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that a state-based scholarship program that provides public funds to allow students to attend private schools cannot discriminate against religious schools under the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution. 5-4
There's a reason I said to ignore the constitutionality of this, because of the political activist nature of the decisions, but the Supreme Court did decide them...so, that's what it is for now. Just to explain my reasoning, the 5-4 decisions you listed were political ones and are wrong. Unfortunately, since conservatives have taken over the court they've made a lot of wrong decisions that have made this country less stable and have harmed Americans. The 2017 one doesn't really fit with the other two imo.

Second, while it is true that not all private schools are religious, most of them are. Even with that, that still doesn't mean that these private schools should get all the money public schools do and none of the requirements and regulations. It should be very simple, take the public money, take the public mandates. If you don't want to have to test your students or service IEP students, don't take the public money. In fact, the 2017 decision you listed would actually support this line of reasoning since it is talking about equability of access.
 
In the Midwest, it is Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio

In the South, it is Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana,
and Mississippi.

In the East, it is Maine, Vermont, Maryland, North Carolina

In the West, it is Oklahoma, Utah

The intent was to offer parents in underperforming school
districts the opportunity to choose for their children a
better choice for their education. It might be private
academies or religious schools such as Catholic, Lutheran
or Baptist.

Bottom Line: It is too early to tell if the voucher choice of
schools is benefitting the children. Only 400,000 students
are currently involved in this program in those 14 states.
It's not too early to tell. States have data that show it is a very mixed bag.
 
That is for a household of one. No one in a household of one is getting a voucher unless they are an emancipated minor.

You have to qualify in 1 of 7 ways but they are so wide open there is essentially no way a kid won't qualify.

There is no limit on the number of vouchers allowed. Indiana currently has about 35k kids getting vouchers. Of those ~175 qualify under the failing school exemption.
understood, though I assume that the medians are scalable to household size.

As an open ended program, that's awfully "generous" (sarcasm font)
 
understood, though I assume that the medians are scalable to household size.

As an open ended program, that's awfully "generous" (sarcasm font)
The limits are based on Federal Poverty level not median household income. The limits aren’t scaled based on household income.

I added median household income as a reference point. Indiana is a low cost/low pay state.
 
I know some of those schools no longer exist. I was just curious what a non religious private school looked like.
Here's another list:

 
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Bettendorf, Iowa has Rivermont Collegiate School for
students K through 12th grade with an enrollment of 190.

It is non-sectarian, independent, multicultural, college
prep school. The campus is located on the estate of
Joseph Bettendorf, for whom the city was named.
Perhaps, some of our current Quad-City HROTers can
elaborate on this school.
 
This kinda shreds the non religious angle.
actually, not really from a legal perspective. As I've noted above, the question whether to have any sort of private subsidy program, and on what terms, is a perfectly fair one, but once you decide to have one, you can't limit it to non-religiously affiliated institutions, regardless of how many or what proportion of the whole they represent. (Jackson, Zelman)
 
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