Bush Revives a Campaign for School Vouchers

CLEVELAND -- A spirited President Bush renewed his campaign for school vouchers Monday, hailing as “a great victory” last week’s Supreme Court ruling that removed the constitutional cloud over the movement to allow parents to use public funds to send children to private schools.

Traveling to Cleveland, where the voucher case originated, Bush said the high court’s decision was “just as historic” as its 1954 ruling that held there cannot be two separate school systems, one for whites and another for blacks.

“And that was the right decision,” the president said, referring to Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., the case that forced the nation’s public schools to desegregate.

“Last week, what’s notable and important is that the court declared that our nation will not accept one education system for those who can afford to send their children to a school of their choice and [another] for those who can’t,” Bush said.

The speech marked the first time in recent memory Bush has used the word “voucher,” signaling that the Supreme Court decision has revived the issue’s political appeal for his administration.

Although as a White House candidate Bush stressed his support for vouchers, as president he readily jettisoned the proposal to focus on building bipartisan congressional support for an educational reform bill that became law in January.

That measure seeks to improve schools by imposing annual reading and math tests on students in the third through eighth grades while substantially increasing federal aid to public education.

Democrats made clear they could not support any bill that would allow public funds to be used for private schools, but the legislation Bush signed will allow--starting in September--about 3.5 million schoolchildren to transfer from persistently under-performing public schools to better ones.

Bush’s speech in Cleveland touched on a range of topics. White House aides said it was intended to reinvigorate his “compassionate conservatism” agenda as it relates to welfare reform, an initiative to channel more federal dollars into religious charities and a drive to promote homeownership among minorities.

He is scheduled to deliver much the same message today in Milwaukee. In his Monday remarks, Bush renewed his tough rhetorical attack against corporate wrongdoers, saying his administration would “go after” business executives who mislead the public and stockholders.

As he has done in many speeches since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush urged Americans to “fight evil by doing good,” such as by volunteering or helping a neighbor or shut-in.

“A patriot is somebody who understands ... that life is complete when you make a sacrifice for somebody else,” he said.

Bush also provided an update on the war on terrorism, saying that good progress is being made and that “the surest way to protect the homeland is to hunt the killers down one by one and bring them to justice.”

The president pleaded “guilty” to engaging in “a lot of warlike talk.” But he added: “I long for a peaceful world for every citizen on the face of the globe.”

Education Secretary Rod Paige, in introducing Bush, called Cleveland “the ground zero for freedom of choice in public education.”

And Bush, in his address to several thousand city leaders and community activists, became most fervent when he discussed the voucher issue.

In a 5-4 ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court opened the door for the use of taxpayer money to send students to church schools, ruling that Ohio’s voucher plan does not violate the Constitution’s ban on an “establishment of religion.”

The decision--probably the most important high court ruling on aid to parochial schools in nearly 30 years--upheld Ohio’s tuition grant of $2,250 that families in Cleveland can spend at private schools. More than 96% of parents who took the money enrolled their children in religious schools.

Until now, state officials around the country have shied away from similar programs for fear of violating the separation of church and state doctrine.

Bush urged Congress to adopt a proposal in his budget for the 2003 fiscal year to provide tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools. The plan, he said, will give parents “more flexibility and more choices when it comes to the education of their children.”

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, (D-Mass.), a key Bush ally in the enactment of the education reform bill, took strong issue with the president on vouchers.

“Private school vouchers may pass constitutional muster, but they fail the test when it comes to improving our nation’s public schools,” Kennedy said.