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Posted on Fri, Jun. 28, 2002
Vouchers in Kansas would demand new laws
BY JOSH FUNK
The Wichita Eagle
Don't look for private school vouchers to come to Kansas anytime soon,
despite Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring them
constitutional.
The Kansas constitution forbids putting public money in religious schools'
hands and would have to be amended before a voucher program could be
established, said Mary Tritsch, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's
office.
Kansas lawmakers proposed a pilot voucher program two years ago, prompting
an attorney general's opinion that found the idea unconstitutional.
The state constitution specifies that public school funds cannot be
controlled by any religious sect, and no Kansan can be taxed to support any
facility where religion is taught or practiced, according to the attorney
general's opinion.
Voucher supporters, however, praised Thursday's ruling, which upheld a
Cleveland program that offers parents a tuition subsidy to use at a private
or parochial school of their choice. The court said the program is allowable
because parents, not the government, decide where the money goes.
"I am ecstatic," said Cindy Duckett of Wichita-based Children First: CEO
Kansas. "I think this decision opens it up in the state Legislature."
Duckett's group is about to award its first set of private scholarships to
help low-income Wichita students attend private schools. The group also
signed two of the legal briefs supporting vouchers in the Supreme Court
case.
Kansas voucher opponents said that because private schools can choose who to
admit, they could take only the best students while siphoning money away
from public education.
"Our concern is that public schools would still have to do everything they
do now with less resources," said Mark Tallman, spokesman for the Kansas
Association of School Boards.
Wichita school board vice president Fran Crowley agreed that for vouchers to
be fair, private schools would have to accept the same students as public
schools.
And Crowley said public schools -- where everyone can get a free education
and learns in the same environment -- are an important part of this
country's heritage.
"Public education is what's made this country great," she said. "I think
anything that takes away from that is bad."
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Reach Josh Funk at 268-6573 or jfunk@wichitaeagle.com.