Editorials
Tuesday, November 10, 1998

School vouchers get
tacit OK from court

ALTHOUGH formally on record in opposition to school vouchers, the U.S. Supreme Court has given the nod to a Wisconsin voucher system and thus granted tacit approval to similar moves that might be taken by other states. While the public generally has been skeptical of vouchers, the high court has created an atmosphere for experimentation.

In 1973, the Supreme Court struck down a school voucher program because it used public money to "subsidize and advance the religious mission of sectarian schools." The appeal in the Wisconsin case asked the court to make clear that the quarter-century-old ruling is still good. Stephen G. Breyer was the only justice voting to review the Wisconsin Supreme Court's upholding of the voucher system. Others rejected reviewing the appeal without comment.

The high court's decision to let the Wisconsin ruling stand should not have been totally unexpected. The court last year ruled that a New York program allowing public school teachers to offer remedial help to students in church-run schools with such subjects as math, science and English did not violate the First Amendment ban on establishment of religion. In effect, the court ruled that programs crossing the line between public and religious schools do not not necessarily violate the establishment clause.

President Clinton in July vetoed a bill providing tax breaks for parents of children who attend private schools, saying the breaks would benefit mainly wealthy families. That argument does not apply to the Wisconsin program, which provides tuition vouchers of up to $5,000 a year per child for families below a certain income level. Wealthy families do not qualify.

Congress and state legislatures should continue exploring methods of using vouchers in ways that give children from families with low to moderate incomes wider choices in education. This can increase pressure on public school systems through competition to improve. The Supreme Court has provided an indication that it will allow such experimentation to occur.

New Caledonia vote

VOTERS in the French territory of New Caledonia have approved a plan giving the local government broad powers in an arrangement called "shared sovereignty." The referendum, approved by a decisive 71 percent, also defers a decision on independence for 15 to 20 years.

The referendum ratified a compromise reached in May that seems to have put to rest decades of division over the status of the archipelago. The plan gives the local government direct control over taxes, foreign trade, transport and communications. Defense, justice and police will remain under French administration.

New Caledonia, a French territory for the past 150 years, is about 800 miles east of Australia. The territory holds about 30 percent of the world's nickel reserves.

Nearly half of the population of 178,000 are native Melanesians, and about one-third are of European origin. The rest are from other Pacific islands and Asia.

French President Jacques Chirac expressed "delight that Caledonians have made the choice of consensus and responsibility in preparing their future." The leader of New Caledonia's pro-independence movement, Rock Wamytan, said, "Today there is a majority of people who want to work together and decide our own future."

On occasion tension between the pro-independence Melanesian natives and anti-independence European settlers has erupted in violence. This vote and the negotiations that led up to it suggest that New Caledonia's future status will be decided peacefully.

Puerto Rico’s status

WHILE most of the nation including Hawaii is recovering from the midterm elections, Puerto Ricans are gearing up for another plebiscite on their political status. They go to the polls on Dec. 13 to choose between continued U.S. commonwealth status, statehood or independence.

In 1967, voters chose commonwealth by a wide margin over statehood. In 1993, the result was much closer but again commonwealth won. Polls indicate a close contest this year as well.

Puerto Rico, acquired by the United States as part of the spoils from the Spanish-American War, has been a commonwealth since 1952. Its people have local self-government but are subject to federal laws. They cannot vote for members of Congress or president. They receive some federal benefits but pay no federal taxes.

Gov. Pedro Rossello is a supporter of statehood and lobbied unsuccessfully in Washington this year for passage of a bill authorizing a referendum. Although his efforts failed, the referendum will be held anyway by the commonwealth government. Rossello is confident that the people will vote for statehood and Congress will respond by setting in motion a process that will culminate in statehood.

However, some Puerto Ricans believe that even if they vote for statehood, neither Congress nor the American people are ready to accept a Spanish-speaking state.

In the years since commonwealth status was achieved, support for independence has waned while advocates of commonwealth and statehood have shared popular support almost evenly. A narrow victory for statehood may not convince Congress that sentiment on the island for statehood is strong enough to warrant change in Puerto Rico's status.

But if statehood is what Puerto Ricans clearly want, that is what they should get. Certainly Hawaii, with its long struggle for statehood, should be sympathetic.

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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor