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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Father Terrence who wrote (53244)	8/26/1999 3:13:00 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Once again the ACLU fights against the rights of children to attend decent schools. Ohio Officials Blast "11th Hour" Cleveland Voucher Ruling By Justin Torres CNS Senior Staff Writer 25 August, 1999 (CNSNews.com) - Concluding that the Cleveland (Ohio) Scholarship Program "has the primary effect of advancing religion," federal Judge Soloman Oliver Jr. ruled yesterday that the voucher program must be shut down until a federal suit on its constitutionality is concluded. The injunction could force the 4,000 students enrolled in the program back into public schools just one week after the school year began. The injunction, which was sought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Ohio Education Association, the People for the American Way, and other lobbying groups, immediately drew criticism from officials in Ohio. "It disrupts at the 11th hour the plans of those who utilize Cleveland's school choice program," Ohio Governor Robert Taft said in a release. "What possible harm would result from allowing these children to attend school where they have been enrolled pending the resolution of this court case?" Taft indicated that Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery would appeal the injunction. "The decision will send over 3,800 children back into Cleveland's violent, troubled and woefully unprepared government schools," said Richard C. Leonardi, president of the Buckeye Institute, an Ohio public policy think tank, in a statement released to CNSNews.com. "In Judge Oliver, the unions and lobbyists have found a willing accomplice in their quest to strip children of one of their only chances at a quality education." The voucher program, begun in 1995 as an experiment, presently gives the parents of 4,003 low to middle income elementary school students a voucher worth $2,250 for use at the private school of their choice. The majority of the students attend local Catholic schools, and Catholic Diocese of Cleveland spokesperson Robert Tayek told CNSNews.com that the diocese was "in a holding pattern" until an appeal is filed. "We're telling parents to continue to send their kids to school as usual while we let this situation settle," Tayek said. Michael Billirakis, president of the Ohio Education Association, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, told CNSNews.com that the group was "very pleased because the decision echoes everything we've been saying about voucher programs." Oliver said in his decision that in his judgement, the "plaintiffs have a very substantial chance" of have having program struck down when the full case is heard. Billirakis also said that he was confident that the local public school system would be able to handle the influx of students in the system if the program is struck down. "The facilities are there, and the kids will be taken care of," Billirakis told CNSNews.com. Nina Shokraii Rees, senior education policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, said that she was confident that the program will be found constitutional if the case is heard by the Supreme Court, as many observers expect. "You can always find a judge who thinks that these programs don't meet federal requirements," Rees told CNSNews.com. "This Supreme Court is going to have make a decision on one of these choice programs, and I'm confident that if the Cleveland case goes to the Supreme Court they will render a clear ruling on its constitutionality." The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the program in May on narrow technical grounds, but upheld its constitutionality.