National Implications of Florida Voucher Case

I share my op-ed in today's San Diego Tribune.

Via Reason Alert:

State Aid for Students at Private Schools

"Last school year, more than 200,000 of California's college students received Cal Grants from the state government (via taxpayers) to help cover the costs at the public or private university of their choice, including religious colleges, like the University of San Diego. But that may change. Next week the Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether that state's Opportunity Scholarships Program, which provides the parents of more than 700 students in failing public schools the right to move to better-performing schools, including religious schools, violates the state constitution because it provides 'aid' to religious schools in violation of the Florida Constitution's Blaine Amendment. The most obvious flaw in the claim is that the program doesn't provide aid to religious schools, but to parents and their kids in failing schools. Nevertheless, lawyers on both sides agree the decision will have implications for states like California, where financial aid winds up at religious institutions. Today, 38 states, including California, have placed some restrictions on government aid going to sectarian schools." - In today's San Diego Union Tribune, Reason's Lisa Snell writes that failing public schools, school choice, and the separation of church and state have been rolled into one Florida Supreme Court case that will likely impact the rest of the country.