The justices of the Indiana Supreme Court are considering a case that questions whether the state's constitution allows taxpayer money to be used for school vouchers.
Jeff Reed of The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice tells OneNewsNow that after a superior court judge last January upheld the law authorizing school vouchers, it was expected that the Indiana State Teachers Association would take the case all the way to the state Supreme Court.
"This is something that we see in a number of states when school-choice options are proposed -- that typically, defenders of the status quo, [defenders] of the monopolistic public education system, try to challenge it," Reed notes. "That's been the case in Indiana. It's been the case down in Louisiana."
While opponents argue that vouchers "directly fund activities of a religious nature," the Foundation spokesman asserts that the funds support parental choice, not parochial schools.
"This is why the U.S. Supreme Court deemed vouchers constitutional under the U.S. Constitution ... because regardless of how the money gets to the school, it's the parent making the decision to have it sent there," Reed explains. "And so it really comes down to parental choice."
The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of state-funded scholarships that provide vouchers for students with special needs so that they may attend private religious schools that best meet those needs. In that 2011 decision, the court ruled against two school districts that claimed the state's Blaine Amendment was being violated.