Judge Modifies Prohibition on Ohio Voucher Program

A federal judge who created turmoil by holding up a state-funded voucher program just as the school year began reversed himself Friday, allowing some students to attend private schools with vouchers this year.

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr. ruled that students who participated in the program for elementary schools in Cleveland last year may receive tuition vouchers again this year.

But children who are new to the program this year will not be allowed to get the tuition grants.

About 4,000 students from kindergarten through sixth grade were to receive up to $2,500 in tuition vouchers so they could attend private or religious schools at taxpayers’ expense.

Bert Holt, a member of a pro-voucher group, estimated Oliver’s ruling would keep about 300 students from receiving vouchers.

Oliver said the new arrangement, which rolls back a heavily criticized decision he made Tuesday, will last only one semester or until a final judgment is reached on whether the voucher program violates the constitutional separation of church and state. He also set a Dec. 13 trial date.

On Tuesday, Oliver granted a request from voucher opponents to suspend the program until a trial can decide the constitutional issue.

He said voucher opponents had a strong argument that the program is unconstitutional. The program appears to have the “primary effect of advancing religion,” he wrote. Most of the 56 schools that participate are religious institutions.

At the time, Oliver said that continuing the program would “cause an even greater harm to the children by setting them up for greater disruption at a later time.”

The pilot program, which began four years ago, has an $11.2-million budget for this year to provide tuition for children of poor families. It is the only one of its kind in Ohio.

Oliver, in his ruling Friday, said that, because the state approved funding for this year’s program in late July, it was inevitable that a court challenge would come as schools were set to begin.

“This timing caused disruption to the children previously enrolled in the program beyond that normally associated with a student’s transferring from one school to another,” he said.