Judge Halts Vouchers at Ohio Schools

A federal judge in Ohio halted the state’s tuition voucher program Tuesday, saying that it is likely the taxpayer-financed private school scholarships to low-income students violate constitutional mandates for separation of church and state.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. issued an injunction stopping the four-year-old school choice program 18 hours before public schools were to open. Cleveland school officials scrambled to make arrangements overnight to absorb many of the 3,800 students who had been attending 56 private schools--most of them religious institutions--that participate in the program.

The Cleveland voucher program was one of the first in the nation when it began in 1995 and had been watched by supporters and critics of school choice for its durability amid court challenges.

“The participating schools are overwhelmingly sectarian. This means that parents cannot make an educational choice without regard to whether the school is parochial or not,” Oliver wrote in a 28-page decision. “Therefore, the Cleveland program has the primary effect of advancing religion.”

No date has been set for the trial, which will determine whether the program does, in fact, violate the constitutional mandate of separation of church and state.

Opponents of the school choice program, who in July filed the first lawsuit in the nation to challenge state school vouchers in federal court, hailed Oliver’s ruling as “right and constitutional” and a major victory for religious freedom.

“I think it will bring the whole voucher thing to a screeching halt nationwide,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.