Vouchers lost in court, deserve no new chance

Vouchers lost in court, deserve no new chance

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2008/03/25/a18a_leadedit_vouchers_0325.html




Palm Beach Post Editorial

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Florida's public schools face enough budget cuts without the state giving
vouchers to private religious schools. Yet that is what two proposals
before a supposed tax reform commission could do.

As if that weren't bad enough, the proposed constitutional amendments
would
try to fool voters with misleading language. Committees of the Taxation
and
Budget Reform Commission have approved both proposals. But the full
commission - which can put amendments directly onto the November ballot -
should reject both at its meeting Wednesday in Tallahassee.
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What are these?

The Florida Constitution says that no state tax money "shall ever be taken
from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect
or religious denomination." That provision protects the separation between
church and state, and most Floridians would want to keep it. But Patricia
Levesque, one of six commissioners who has close ties to former Gov. Jeb
Bush, wants to kill that provision. Like all proposals, hers would need 17
votes from among the 25 commissioners.

Ms. Levesque's proposed amendment would ask voters to agree that
"individuals or entities may not be barred from participating in public
programs because of their religion." She wants to make it seem as though
the state is preventing the faithful from practicing their religion. But
the state hasn't done that; neither has the state given people money to
aid
in practicing their religion. And it should stay that way.

Another proposed amendment would ask if voters want "freedom to choose
among public and private providers of public services." Gee, put that way,
who wouldn't want choice? In fact, the amendment, in conjunction with the
first proposal, would allow any kind of church school and religious health
and social services provider, paid for by the public. The proposal is
meant
to overturn the 2006 Florida Supreme Court ruling against
taxpayer-financed
private-school vouchers.

Separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution still would apply.
But if the state charter is weakened, the Florida Legislature - which
approved vouchers for religious schools with no meaningful oversight and
intervened on religious grounds in the Terri Schiavo case - likely would
fall all over itself to "outsource" services to religious groups. Only
years of lawsuits would get things back on the right side of the
church-state line.

These amendments relate neither to taxes nor the budget. They relate to
policy issues that didn't stand up in court, and seek to get around the
court ruling. They are deceptive, a waste of time and none of the
commission's business