School Vouchers

The recent court decision that a school voucher program violates church-state separation (Dec. 21) ignores the key point that the choice of a religious school is made by the individual parent, not the government. The voucher merely empowers that parent to make that choice.

A parent using a voucher for religious school tuition is, in principle, no different than a college student using a federal loan to attend Notre Dame, a Medicare patient selecting a hospital with a religious affiliation, or any of us taking a tax deduction for a donation to a religious charity. Are all of these activities unconstitutional?

Ultimately, the church-state separation argument against vouchers is disingenuous. School voucher opponents are driven either by selfish interests (teachers unions and public school administrators) or an ideology which holds that politicians, not parents, should control our children’s education.

FREDERICK B. SINGER

Huntington Beach