New York Times Questions Voucher Decision by Supreme Court
In an editorial, the nation’s most influential newspaper questioned
the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the Milwaukee religious
school voucher case.
The New York Times said the court’s silence “leaves in place
a plan that will directly harm the vast majority of the city’s schoolchildren,
namely those left in Milwaukee’s public schools ... .” It said
the voucher program “is deeply flawed” in part because it “transfers
funds out of desperate public schools for the benefit of private education.
... It would be far better to increase public school funding to improve
education for all the students.”
The paper went on to say:
“It is absurd to argue that public education can be improved
by diverting huge amounts of tax revenue into parochial and private schools.
A voucher plan, such as Milwaukee’s, does not reform anything. It
is a funding mechanism that forces taxpayers to underwrite religious and
private education. Improving education for all students, not just the
few who manage to get vouchers, requires sustained community commitment
and leadership. Vouchers are a convenient political diversion from that
task.”
Posted December 2, 1998