Preparing for Battle
By Goldwater Institute: Clint Bolick (11/06/06)
All forms of school choice must be defended in order for any to flourish
Over 87,000 children were recently given an educational reprieve by the Ohio Supreme Court, which ruled that public charter schools are constitutional. Unfortunately, the education establishment's defeat in Ohio does not spell an end to the litigation campaign against public and private school choice.
Most state constitutions contain education guarantees that can be twisted to thwart the interests of schoolchildren. For example, many state constitutions include “uniformity clauses,” which require publicly funded schools to be “uniform” when compared with each other or the public system.
The argument that all publicly funded education must be "uniform" was first used against the Milwaukee school voucher program. But teacher’s unions hit pay dirt last January, when the Florida Supreme Court construed that state's guarantee of a "uniform" and "high quality system of free public schools" to preclude a school-choice program.
Despite the flimsiness of the Florida court's logic, the closeness of the Ohio Supreme Court vote suggests the precedent may spread. Already, Arizona's recently enacted private scholarship program for children of modest means has been challenged on uniformity grounds.
As the Ohio litigation demonstrates, those whose interests are served by the status quo are determined to destroy school choice in all its forms. All forms of school choice, in turn, must be defended in order that any school choice can flourish.
Clint Bolick is a senior fellow with the Goldwater Institute. He is a recipient of the 2006 Bradley Prize.
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