American Elephants

Indiana has had one of the country’s largest and most inclusive school voucher programs. Naturally, the teachers’ unions objected. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday in Meredith v. Pence that the Choice Scholarship Program (CSP) is constitutional. This is a great victory for the families currently participating in the program and for the 600,000 children who are now eligible to receive scholarships to attend a private school that meets their unique learning needs. The court sided 5-0 with educational freedom. The Institute for Justice notes that:

the unions’ legal claims focused on two types of constitutional provisions that are common in most other state constitutions: 1) provisions requiring that states provide a “general and uniform” system of public education; and 2) provisions forbidding state support of religion.

The court answered the provision prohibiting state support of religion:

the unions’ legal claims focused on two types of constitutional provisions that are common in most other state constitutions: 1) provisions requiring that states provide a “general and uniform” system of public education; and 2) provisions forbidding state support of religion.

The Indiana ruling ends the challenge to the voucher program in the state, but also is an important victory for school choice, and “solidifies the growing body of case law supporting school choice and exposes the flaws in the teachers’ unions’ favorite legal claims.

The court’s declaration the CSP reflects “the private, independent choice of the parents’ perfectly encapsulates the concept of school choice. It builds on the notion that public education doesn’t have to mean government-run schools. School choice is about funding children, not institutions, and allowing children to take their share of funding to an educational environment that meets their unique learning needs.