VOUCHERS, DRUG TESTS ARE LEGAL, COURT RULES

Schools Decision Bolsters Bush Florida Plan

In a huge boost to Florida's school-voucher programs, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled yesterday that tax dollars can be used to send children to
religious schools.

The court, in a 5-4 ruling, said an Ohio voucher program did not violate
the constitutional separation of church and state, as long as parents also
were given other choices such as enrolling their children in magnet schools
or non-religious private schools.

The ruling was a victory for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican
lawmakers, who passed a controversial program in 1999 that offers vouchers
to children who attend chronically failing public schools. Florida's
program, which could grow to include thousands of students during the
coming school year, is expected to rely heavily on religious schools.

Voucher supporters argue that the programs in Ohio, Florida and other
states offer choices to low-income parents, who otherwise might not have
enough money to transfer their children to better-quality private schools.

"Most importantly, this is a victory for the children who were trapped in
some of the worst schools in the country, and for the frustrated parents
who had no real options," Bush said. "The court's ruling affirms the
constitutionality of programs that allow parents a real choice, including
the option of receiving an education at a religious school."

While the ruling resolves the question about whether such voucher programs
violate the U.S. Constitution, it will not end a state court fight over
Florida's voucher program.

Opponents quickly said yesterday they will continue a lawsuit that argues
the program violates the Florida Constitution. That argument focuses, in
part, on a section of the Florida Constitution that uses stronger language
than the U.S. Constitution in dealing with the issue of separation of
church and state.

"That [the Florida Constitution] is the people's document, and it tells us
we don't want vouchers in Florida," said Tony Welch, a spokesman for the
Florida Education Association, a teachers union that has helped spearhead
the lawsuit.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court ruling elated a Pensacola parent whose son
is one of the first in the state to receive a voucher. Cassandra Galloway,
whose son Jonathan receives a voucher to attend Sacred Heart Cathedral
Catholic School, screamed "thank you, thank you, thank you," when told of
the decision.

"I'm just so happy that he can keep going to his school," Galloway said.
"I'm just so thankful we have this opportunity."

Yesterday's ruling dealt with a vouchers program that started in 1996 to
help students leave the troubled Cleveland public school system. Of the
3,700 students who participated in the program during the 1999-2000 school
year, 96 percent enrolled in religious schools.

The majority of the Supreme Court found that the program is "neutral in all
respects toward religion" because parents also had the option of
transferring to non-religious private schools or other public schools.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the opinion and was joined by
Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and
Clarence Thomas.

"It is part of a general and multifaceted undertaking by the state of Ohio
to provide educational opportunities to the children of a failed school
district," Rehnquist wrote.

But dissenters said the program moved toward state-sponsored religion,
violating the so-called "Establishment Clause" of the U.S. Constitution.
Justice David Souter, who was joined in dissent by Justices John Paul
Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, pointed to the fact that
almost all children in the program went to religious schools.

"For the overwhelming number of children in the voucher scheme, the only
alternative to the public schools is religious," Souter wrote.

The ruling comes amid a noisy, politically charged debate in Florida about
Bush's efforts to overhaul the education system, including his support for
vouchers.

Lawmakers approved vouchers in 1999 as part of Bush's "A-Plus" education
plan, which grades all public schools each year based on student scores on
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Schools are declared failing if
they receive an F twice during a four-year period, enabling students to
transfer to higher-scoring public schools or to receive vouchers to attend
private schools.

Since 1999, 52 students from two Pensacola elementary schools have received
vouchers worth up to $3,800 a year. Nearly 9,000 additional students in
Escambia, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach counties are eligible for
vouchers during the upcoming academic year because their schools received a
second F when the state released grades earlier this month.

No students in Northeast Florida are eligible for the vouchers, but 13
Duval County schools could be declared failing next year if they receive F
grades.

Florida in recent years also started a program that has provided vouchers
to 4,000 students with disabilities, though that program has not been as
controversial as Bush's vouchers plan. Lawmakers passed the program to help
disabled students transfer to private schools if they think public schools
are not meeting their needs.

Voucher opponents, including many Democrats and politically powerful
teachers unions, argue that Bush's plan hurts public schools by taking away
tax dollars and students. A coalition of groups, led by the Florida
Education Association, has fought in court against Bush's voucher program
for the past three years.

A hearing is scheduled next month in Leon County Circuit Court on the issue
of whether the Florida Constitution bars the state from sending tax dollars
to religious schools.

The disputed part of the Constitution says that no tax dollars "shall ever
be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any
church, sect or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian
institution." By contrast, the Ohio case centered on part of the U.S.
Constitution that says there shall be "no law respecting an establishment
of religion."

But state Solicitor General Tom Warner, who has helped defend Florida's
vouchers program, said state courts have typically viewed the Florida
Constitution the same way as they have viewed the religious-related
language in the U.S. Constitution.

"The Florida Supreme Court, at least up to now, has always interpreted it
the same as the U.S. Constitution," Warner said.

Patricia Tierney, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of St.
Augustine in Northeast Florida, called yesterday's ruling a plus for the
voucher movement. Tierney said her schools have about 40 students who get
vouchers through the program for disabled children or get funding through
another state program that offers tax credits to companies that pay for
low-income children to attend private schools.

"Parents need to have choices," Tierney said. "The poor have very few
choices or none. We truly do believe that our society will be improved by
all people getting the education they need and want."