School vouchers

    Jack, here’s your answer: If the plan passed, students could use the vouchers to attend any private or religious school on a list approved by the New Jersey Education Commissioner.

    Jack Peters asked:  Do you know if the proposed vouchers in New Jersey would be usable at Roman Catholic schools? Would that be a violation of separation of church and state?

    Jack, here’s your answer:  If the plan passed, students could use the vouchers/scholarships to attend any private or religious school on a list approved by the New Jersey Education Commissioner.  The plan is limited to 13 school districts, though, including Camden and Trenton.  The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 2002 ruling upholding a voucher plan in Cleveland, Ohio, said that a voucher plan that included religious schools could be constitutional, as long as it included secular private schools, did not favor religious schools, and left the choice of school up to the parents and student.

    For the original story on school vouchers click here.

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