[ OUR OPINION ]
School vouchers intact
and deserve attentionIN a narrow ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Washington state officials' decision to rescind a scholarship to a college student who was studying to be a minister. The court's decision was regarded in some quarters as a defeat for proponents of school voucher programs, but it was nothing of the sort. Those programs will continue and Hawaii officials should open their minds to the idea.
THE ISSUE
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a college student the right to accept a state scholarship so he can prepare for the ministry.
The obstacles to school vouchers are considerable in Hawaii. Governor Lingle voiced opposition during her 2002 campaign -- except possibly for special-education students -- and the Hawaii State Teachers Association is strongly opposed. Also, such a program would require a constitutional amendment. However, experiments conducted elsewhere in the country should not be ignored.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote in the court's 7-2 opinion that "training someone to lead a congregation is an essentially religious endeavor," and public funding of such an endeavor violates the First Amendment separation of church and state. He added that students receiving the state aid may enroll in devotional theology courses, but not with the goal of becoming members of the clergy.
The high court ruled in 2002 that a Cleveland program that provided vouchers worth up to $2,250 for elementary-age students to attend private schools, most of which are religious, did not infringe on the First Amendment. The ruling in the Washington state case does not disturb that decision.
Washington is among 36 states, including Hawaii, that ban the expenditure of public money on religious education. Washington specifically forbids public money from being "applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction." Despite that ban, known as a Blaine amendment, that state's Promise Scholarship program provides stipends of up to $1,542 to low-income students finishing in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes to attend in-state colleges, including private and religious-affiliated schools.
That does not mean that Hawaii immediately could do the same. Hawaii's Blaine amendment, tucked into the state Constitution, forbids public funds to be spent "for the support or benefit of any sectarian or private educational institution." In an opinion issued a year ago, the Attorney General's Office stated that school vouchers would violate that article of the Constitution.
Deputy Attorney General Joelle K. Chiu cited a 1968 ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court that state-subsidized bus transportation for all school children, including sectarian and other private school students, violated the Constitution because it "built up, strengthened and made successful" non-public schools.
Under that rationale, Chiu concluded, "a publicly funded school voucher program would have to overcome a number of significant hurdles to pass constitutional muster in Hawaii." If programs in other states are successful, Hawaii may become more prepared to face those hurdles.
