Supreme Court to Consider School Tax-Credit Program
by Bob EwingToday the Institute for Justice filed opening briefs in our fourth case to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court.
IJ’s first trip to the high court came in 2002 and resulted in a landmark victory for school choice. We also won our second U.S. Supreme Court case, defending the American ideals of economic liberty and unfettered interstate commerce by striking down a ban on the direct shipment of wine.
Our third case changed America forever. A local government in Connecticut decided to bulldoze an entire neighborhood and hand the land over to a politically connected private developer. The law was stacked against the property owners in favor of the powerful special interests. IJ, defending the property owners, lost in a controversial 5-4 ruling.
This was the infamous Kelo case, and it resulted in an explosion of outrage and grassroots activism all across the country. Ed Morrissey recently wrote at Hot Air that it arguably set “the stage for the all-out eruption of Tea Party activism a few years later.” This epic battle to protect private property rights, ultimately vindicated by grassroots activists just like you, is one that will never be forgotten:
And now, as children nationwide get ready to begin a new school year, the Institute for Justice is defending Arizona’s innovative scholarship tax-credit program before the highest court in the land.
In a nutshell, the program encourages taxpayers to donate to organizations that provide scholarships to low-income children to attend better schools. Every donor gets a dollar-for-dollar tax credit, up to $500. As a result, thousands of needy families in Arizona have had the opportunity to escape poorly performing public schools and attend functional and thriving private schools.
The Arizona Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit claiming the program is illegal because parents may use their scholarships at religious schools if they choose. The Arizona Supreme Court disagreed, as the money is given to parents rather than schools. And importantly, it is the parents, not the schools, that choose where the money is spent.
Defiantly, the ACLU filed suit again, this time in federal court. Unfortunately, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the children. This decision drew a strongly worded dissent from Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who wrote:
[T]he legislature could hardly have had the ‘purpose’ of endorsing religion when it set up a plan that, for all it knew, could have resulted in absolutely no funding for religious entities.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case for next term. Tim Keller, Executive Director of the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter and the lead attorney on the case, made the following statement:
This frivolous lawsuit is a desperate effort by those afraid of true education reform. School choice gives thousands of low-income Arizona families the opportunity for a better education in schools that work for them, and thousands more eager families are on waiting lists. There is no good legal or policy reason to take these scholarships away. We are confident the U.S. Supreme Court will rule that this thriving scholarship program is constitutional.
Nationally, school choice is on the rise. Last month alone, Oklahoma and Louisiana created new programs. And while the teachers unions killed a highly successful school choice scholarship in Washington, DC, that benefits thousands of the poorest kids in the district, the head of DC’s public schools just announced that she is planning to create a new voucher program to help DC kids in need.
To learn more about IJ’s fourth U.S. Supreme Court case, click here.
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Pre. Obama, Sen. Schumer, Sen. Gillinbrand, Rep. Hall
July 31, 2009
Dear Sir/Ma’am:
In the past six months I have witnessed various attacks on what makes up a thin and fragile line between order and chaos in a free society; from the Central Intelligence Agency to a local Massachusetts police officer. This must stop. The men and women of these agencies and services step forward, and serve this country in various forms without regard to their personal or economic well being; they do it because they possess an ember that provokes in them a desire to protect the American public, and by extension our way of life, that is, freedom. In short they have the “right stuff” and they prove it every day they infiltrate dangerous organizations hell bent on horror, or keep a once idiotic teenager, like yours truly once was, from violating the vehicle and traffic law. I think it is high time for a little reminder of what these men and women endure to get where they are to do their jobs, and maybe in doing this all of you who are in charge will stop dumping on all of them.
In order to become and remain a CIA agent one must continually lie to their family and friends, pass a vigorous background check, endure a training program that is psychologically as well as physically grueling, all the while living under a microscope for months where every emanation is recorded, reviewed, and discussed ad nauseam with people you have never met. Assuming one makes it to graduation, the new agents are then given assignments all over the globe in an effort to widen our intelligence net; to enable all of you to make wise choices as to how to react to the challenges this nation is, and will face. As far as a personal life or marriages, rarely do they endure, and children are difficult to have if you and your spouse are separated by continents for months on end. The penalty for detection in many of these regions is an excruciatingly painful death; the best these captured agents can hope for is to die while being tortured. You can bet Kim Jung Whack Job is not following the United States Army Field Manual.
In order to become a police officer and remain one, one must have and continue to live on the right side of the law and pass psychological testing. They must train for dangerous and unpredictable situations that they will most likely face alone. The men and women of the thousands of police departments risk their lives to enforce the law while simultaneously respecting the constitutional rights of citizens so that the law abiding can live freely. Every day hundreds of thousands of police officers kiss their wives and children goodbye; put on twenty to forty pounds of gear including a loaded weapon, and earnestly set forth to enforce the law and protect the public, sometimes even protecting a citizen from his or her own stupidity; all the while knowing that for a handful of officers this will be the last day they ever see their children, wife or husband on this earth. Recently a Massachusetts police officer was dispatched to respond to an alleged break-in in progress; this particular officer, arrived on the scene; proceeded in accordance with his training; to secure, apprehend potential suspects, and to every extent possible maintain the scene for a potential prosecution of as yet undetermined suspects – and he was viciously attacked for it.
How can all of you expect that we will attract and retain the best individuals this nation has to offer if you attack them? In the recent past Speaker Pelosi accused the CIA of lying or President Obama last week automatically assumed a police officer is acting “stupidly” after declaring he did not know the facts. President Clinton spent his terms in office declaring a world at peace and cashed the peace dividend on top of the CIA and the defense of this nation; that brought us the loss of lives on September 11, 2001; decimated our economy and brought us a war that has no end because we have not yet begun ramping up to attack the wider enemy; an enemy who you can all bet will attack us again. All of you at a bare minimum would serve this nation far better if you supported, and when ever possible, celebrated the efforts of all of these men and women in their efforts to do their vital jobs. As far as doing your jobs; any government that is accruing a Seven Billion Two Hundred Million dollar debt ($7,200,000,000) every twenty-four hours against a rapidly shrinking economy, while contemplating spending hundreds of billions of dollars on everything from taking over the health system to “cash for clunkers” is clearly not doing its job.
We need to take our kids back from the communist unions and reclaim America for liberty's sake.
I fight this war every night with bedtime stories. "How to Behave and Why" and "What Do People Do All Day." among others. When I was young my father would tell me my teacher was full of it. Suggest all do the same.
Personally, I never had the good fortune to graduate high school.
I worked, and I toiled, to ensure that my children went to private school, and have continued that tradition with my grandchildren. I would never trust anything as precious as a childs mind, and education, to the state.
It is our responsibility as parents and grandparents to protect our own. The State can't even run the Post Office or AmTrack. I damn sure don't want them having anything to do with a child learning to read or cipher.
Speaking of schools, whatever happened to the "Safe School Czar" Kevin Jennings…………..?
The pendulem is swinging and the NEA is about to experience for the first time in its history a major nip in its bud. Folks are fed up and are going to insist that our educational system be changed.
"The Arizona Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit claiming the program is illegal because parents may use their scholarships at religious schools if they choose. The Arizona Supreme Court disagreed, as the money is given to parents rather than schools. And importantly, it is the parents, not the schools, that choose where the money is spent."
No truer words could be spoken than the ones above about education!
This continual assault on the family in THIER choice of education for their children will not play out well for progressive statists politicians….especially now that many folks have woken up from a nightmare to find they are living in a nightmare of their children being indoctrinated in radicalism on a daily basis. This my friends is a game changer!
I worked hard as a farm kid and paid my own private highschool education. I attended 8 years of University and came out with a handful of degrees and 300 dollars debt. I have seen the results of kids that thrive in better schools. We don't mandate sports or music and kids go after what they like. Education also doesn't do well when curriculum is mandated.
Cowboy, you have earned the highest honor in life, the satisfaction of knowing you did and do the right thing. No piece of parchment can replicate that given by people who have not earned that honor by their own merits. You have and do. Be careful out there.
Probably hiding in the boy's locker room at the local Middle School
I have a PhD in some areas.
Post hole digging…….
More proof that the ACLU and teachers unions don't have the children's best interest at heart. Good luck with your case, I hope the court makes the right decision.
The choice is simple. Unions, AFT or NEA, and socialist and government control OR put a voucher system in place and allow the free market an opportunity to bring our failing educational system back from the brink. It's really a no-brainer to everyone except those that benefit from the corruption of the current system. I'll go with change…..that we can REALLY believe in.
"The pendulem is swinging and the NEA is about to experience for the first time in its history a major nip in its bud. Folks are fed up and are going to insist that our educational system be changed. "
From your keyboard to God's ears…make it so.
Want to see an excellent example of the Public School System?
Look at Detroit.
Bwaaaa-frigen-haaa-haaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see in the news last week that Detroit was voted the Number 1 Worst City in America. Further, it hurries them to graduate 25% of the kids in school. That is Third, or even Fourth World status. People don't like calling a spade a spade, but look at Detroit.
Teachers Unions, Black Democrats running the machine. Face the facts. It has deteriorated far past the ghetto, it has gone back to the jungle.
Then look to Memphis which is becoming Detroit south
Communists have no place in our government:
http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2010/jul/30...
He is secluded away writing the final chapters of "Fisting for fun and profit"
They will skimp on our children's education BUT the WH didn't skimp on this school. Oregon State University Athletic Director Bob DeCarolis wanted to fire basketball coach… Craig Robinson. When word reached Washington , Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter was dispatched to Corvallis with $17 million in stimulus money for the university. Thankfully, Craig Robinson's job is safe for another year.
For those of you unfamiliar with Coach Robinson, he just so happens to be the brother in law of none other than our country's "squatter-in-chief" and Mooochelle's brother. Makes you want to pull out your hair.
The one thing I have learned in this life is an education does not make an educated man….some of the smartest folk I know have no formal education beyond some High School years and it has served them very well….and some of the stupidiest….well you know!
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/graph...
Look at that. It's UNBELIEVABLE. Again, numbers don't lie, just liberals.
"Kidnapping" is STILL a criminal offense. Throw all union thugs behind bars for all their criminal acts.
November here we come!
The NEA, progressives and their ilk surely don't want the poor getting too educated. It becomes much harder to control them in the future. Oh and of course for the NEA (and thus the DNC), it is a lot of money walking out of their pockets
I can’t help but notice the irony of liberals who don’t recognize how “religiously anti-religious” they are in their beliefs.
New York Times = Bible, tells you what to believe
Nightly News cast = Daily sermon instructs liberals on the issues “right-thinking” people are concerned with. You see, Americans never stopped going to church, liberals installed their church in American living rooms.
Preachers = Reporters&Ph.D.s
High Priest = Al Gore, a highly awarded man of high moral standing who's moral guidance will deliver us from the abyss unto salvation.
End Times = Global Warming
Holy Cross = Peace sign
Blasphemers = Right-wingers, Bloggers, Talk Radio etc.
Inquisition = MSM attacks on the Blasphemers
Seminary = Public School system
My point is the following, just as liberals seek to change the definition of words like marriage to win their arguments, conservatives must do the same. We need to redefine the word religion to include liberalism and get the ACLU fighting on our side to expunge religion from public places. Liberalism is a religion.
Amen to that! Some of the smartest wisest people I've met, no formal advanced education. The dumbest and most ignorant…formal advanced education. I call them educated idiots.
Don't let the liberals continue to tell you their old canards and lies…..
Republicans earn 60% more college degrees than democrats (every year since 1955 when first tracked) and earn more money, pay more taxes, are less likely to cheat on their taxes, are more tolerant of others, are happier, and are far less likely to be in trouble with the law or end up in jail. (Joseph Fried, 2008 – Rhetoric vs Reality…)
In fact, if democrats could just keep up with Republicans there would be no national debt and we would have few social problems. Democrats are the social problems. They are far more likely to drop out of high school and make up to 90% of our prison populations, and if they are so smart how come they're the ones who need food stamps.
Incarceration costs $50,000/yr, but there is also costs of the crimes, costs of the trials and court system and costs of parole monitoring, food stamps, and the opportunity costs of not having a productive taxpayer contributing to society — you could easily double the figures to $100,000/yr. as the cost of prison/individual. And there is 5 million chronic democrats in the prison revolving door. Do the math. Democrats need to pay reparations to Republicans.
.
Lost this post first time for some reason:
I can’t help but notice the irony of liberals who don’t recognize how “religiously anti-religious” they are in their beliefs.
New York Times = Bible, tells you what to believe
Nightly News cast = Daily sermon instructs liberals on the issues “right-thinking” people are concerned with. You see, Americans never stopped going to church, liberals installed their church in American living rooms.
Preachers = Reporters&Ph.D.s
High Priest = Al Gore, a highly awarded man of high moral standing who's moral guidance will deliver us from the abyss unto salvation.
End Times = Global Warming
Holy Cross = Peace sign
Blasphemers = Right-wingers, Bloggers, Talk Radio etc.
Inquisition = MSM attacks on the Blasphemers
Seminary = Public School system
Point being, in the same way liberals redefine words like marriage (to man-man) and conservative (=evil), we need to redefine the meaning of the word religion to include liberalism. Joking of course, that way the ACLU will help expunge liberalism from public places. Liberalism is a religion.
Remember folks, it's not about children, it's about power.
Unions and gov., united to ensure that our children never get a clue that they are subservient to the ruling class.
This case is about freedom of choice. Parents have the right to choose schools where their children have a real opportunity to learn rather than languish for 12 years in government controlled assembly line locations which produce future dumbed down citizens.
Dontcha just love our aclu and its attempt to further the socialist idea of equality – mediocrity. Heck, thousands of current graduates from our broken public school system can't read, write or do simple math above fourth grade level. Yet, according to the government they have a certificate stating they have fulfilled 12 years of PC and brainwashing. That's not a future we should come to expect for future generations.
better yet State Constitutional and or US Constitutional Amendment to whit: All funds intended for schools be issued as a voucher to parents of school age children with equal apportion by the number of children, said voucher to be redeemed at any school of said parents choice, said fund to be all funding, said school may be private or public.
These are some of the most boring links on the planet but they are first from an unimpeachable source and they tell a story YOU SUSPECTED BUT COULD NEVER PROVE….the COLLUSION OF WELL KNOWN PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS TO INTENTIONALLY PERVERT THE "MESSAGE" TAUGHT, ESPECIALLY IN THE KING MAKER SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES, TO TEACH PEOPLE THE VERSION OF HISTORY THE KING MAKERS WANTED THEM TO LEARN AS FACT AND BELIEVE AS KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH. THE CARNAGIES, ROCKERFELLERS, AND OTHER RESPECTED FOUNDATIONS CONSPIRED TO SHAPE THE EDUCATIONAL MESSAGE ABOUT ECONOMICS, POLITICS, HISTORY AND SO MUCH MORE.
*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUYCBfmIcHM&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaR9FKDnZKE&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtYy2I0M&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Mazjm_A5k&fe...
*
The gov't and unions CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT EVER AGAIN BE TRUSTED TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN. WE MUST SCRUTINIZE TEXT BOOKS, ACTUALLY READ WHAT THEY ARE TEACHING OUR KIDS…IT'S OUR JOB AS PARENTS TO MAKE CERTAIN OUR CHILDREN ARE BEING TAUGHT, NOT INDOCTRINATED, AND IT IS OUR JOB AS PARENTS TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO THINK, AND QUESTION EVERYTHING THEY READ AND HEAR….
Too many parents are far more worried about their kids being polite….they think asking, "WHY," is somehow impertinent, inappropriate….and OMG…that a child would argue? That a child would call bullshit? That a child would not just disagree, but NOT SUBMIT! Well give me a kid who DOES ALL THOSE THINGS and I'll give you a kid WHO KNOWS WHO THEY ARE, THINKS FOR THEMSELVES, AND DOES NOT PRIZE SOCIAL STANDING, CONGENIALITY, AND PEER GROUP ACCEPTANCE OVER KNOWLEDGE, INDEPENDENCE, SELF DETERMINATION, AND COURAGE!
ALLOW YOUR KIDS TO DISAGREE, STRONGLY…..AND TALK THINGS THROUGH
ALLOW YOUR KIDS TO SAY NOPE, NOT BUYIN THAT ONE….JUST MAKE THEM EXPLAIN WHY
ALLOW THEM TO GORE ANY SACRED OX THEY WANT….IF THEY CAN JUSTIFY IT WITH REASONED ARGUMENT AND LOGIC.
ALLOW THEM TO BE INDEPENDENT THINKERS AND TALKERS….NOT PC GOOD BOYS AND GIRLS WHO DON'T CAUSE TROUBLE AND ARE NEVER EVER RUDE.
COURTESY DOESN'T REQUIRE COMPLIANCE
OPINION REQUIRES JUSTIFICATION, NOT REVISION
WORDS AND IDEAS ARE NOT TO BE FEARED. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
THIS NATION CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER GENERATION OF GET ALONG GROUP THINK IMBECILES WHO SPOUT WHAT THEY WERE TOLD OR TAUGHT.
WE REALLY CAN'T.
Now is a good time for some historic trivia on the subject of separation of church and state.
1) First off, there is no constitution clause stating that church and state are to remain separated. The only religious clause states that (federal) congress shall pass no laws regarding the establishment of religion. This law keeps the federal government out of religion. This law however does not keep religion out of federal government. The whole idea that any persons beliefs whether they stem from secularism or religion or what ever else guides a person should be limited if you label it as religious is just retarded in the first place.
2) The KKK (an organization of millions, founded by the Democrats) had a required oath for all of it's members. That oath was the separation of church and state oath. The primary reasoning of the KKK for this oath is that they were afraid that Catholic immigrants would gain too much political sway in America, which would go against democrats view of government.
3) Hugo Black, a high leader in the KKK, was chosen by a democrat president to be a Supreme Court judge. Hugo Black took the KKK separation of church and state oath.
4) Voila, a religious issue comes before the supreme court and here comes good ole boy Hugo Black to insist that the US constitution intended to keep religious issues out of all forms of government. Hugo Black basically forced the KKK idea of separation of church and state upon the entire nation.
5) A simple reading of the US constitution easily shows that Hugo Black and all the KKK followers that supported him afterwards were dead wrong on their interpretation.
The "new" idiotic education reform is to mandate that schools increase graduation rates instead of raising test scores as a measure of education "success." As a 30+ year public educator, I know how that game will be played. Of course, graduation rates will increase; and a public high school diploma will become more meaningless as an indicator of "learning."
Right-to-Work laws are needed in every state to break the strangle-hold that national teacher's unions have on mandatory union membership and dues. Public education dollars need to be tied to the student and not the school district. The bloated bureaucracies of local, state, and federal public education have continued to grow as the control of public education has centralized under state and federal governments. The salaries of administrative bureaucrats are not the average teacher's wages, and they directly contribute to the education of …?
First off, you are wrong. There are two religious clauses in the Constitution: Article VI, paragraph 3, and the 1st Amendment. The first bars excluding someone from office on the basis of their faith, or lack thereof, the second bars the government from establishing any religion.
Second, you leave out that while the majority in the 5-4 decision agreed that the 1st Amendment provided for a separation of Church and State, the minority that dissented with the decision also agreed with that. The only thing they disagreed with was whether that wall meant the state of New Jersey could subsidize the bus fares of children going to parochial schools.
Third, even that begs the question as to why Chief Justice Fred Vinson, and Associate Justices Stanley Reed, William Douglas, and Frank Murphy (who happened to be a Catholic), agreed with him.
Fourth, it really begs the question as to why Felix Frankfurter, the strongly Marxist, but also strongly Zionist, non-observant Jew, would dissent, and agree that the state could fund such things.
(Actually, that's not particularly confusing given his record in past cases, but it is interesting to note just how weird politics can get.)
I got a PHD too!
I keep mine in the shed
Post Hole digger that is…
Two words.
HOME SCHOOL!
"ALLOW THEM TO GORE ANY SACRED OX THEY WANT….IF THEY CAN JUSTIFY IT WITH REASONED ARGUMENT AND LOGIC. "
I was taught early on that sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger. And skewering them is an ongoing delight!
If they're true to their name (foolish thought, I know) wouldn't a great 'liberty' be the ability to choose one's school??
Oh, silly me: we plebes can only choose from THEIR offerings.
Exactly. It is folly and cruel to demand children be mirror images of us.
Gibrahn….'Your children are not your children but life's longing for itself." sumpthin to that effect. Growing up dinner was 1 part food, 1 part fight, and 1 part hilarity. Not topic or words verbotten and no idea unchallenged for proof and justification.
And we still do it today when we get together. Loud but totally fun and very educational.
Yeah, you beat me to the punch….
Much better than Piled High and Deeper! And you can surely guess what I am talking about!
I must say that I am sincerely disappointed in my fellow citizens, who seem to feel that shouting derogatory statements about the people with whom they share this planet into a cavernous echo chamber is somehow "advancing a dialogue."
We live in a pluralistic society. That doesn't mean that you have to give up your convictions and adopt a morally relativistic attitude. But it does require that you at least attempt to engage with those you might disagree with in a civil manner.
You want solutions? First you have to accept that not everyone will share your views, and be open to the possibility that others' views might – just might – be legitimate, too. Then you can navigate your differences in a fully informed manner.
You can always disagree – and you should if you have strong evidence to support your case. But name-calling and blanket generalizations do nothing besides undercut your own credibility and expose a deep void of intellectual integrity.
(P.S. There are one or two people here who posted insightful comments. Kudos to you for sticking it out in such a volatile environment.)
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