When we let vouchers drain our schools, it hurts us all.
September 17, 2024
Good news out of South Carolina.
The South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled that vouchers are unconstitutional.
Justice Gary Hill wrote the program violates the state’s constitutional prohibition against public dollars directly benefiting private schools.
“The dissent claims our decision ‘pulls the rug out’ from under the feet of the General Assembly and ‘ultimately, the feet of the students the law was designed to serve,” Justice Hill writes. “Our duty is to serve the Constitution, the supreme policy of our land. As such, our obligation is not to allow a rug to cover up well marked constitutional ground, no matter how inconvenient that ground may prove to be.
“The entire concept behind the Constitution and the rule of law is that the end cannot justify the means,” he continued.
Read the story here.
All along, we’ve said Vouchers Hurt Ohio is not alone. In state after state, organizations like ours have organically arisen to push back against anti-public school extremists pushing a pro-voucher agenda.
The South Carolina decision is critical to saving public schools for all children.
We are challenging the state’s unconstitutional EdChoice private school voucher program that is no more than a refund and rebate program for wealthy parents, and a financial boondoggle for private school operators, primarily religious schools.
Our fourth count is based on just reading the language in the Ohio Constitution: Article VI, section 2: School Funds…”no religious or other sect, or sects, shall ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the school funds of the state.”
Vouchers go on trial in Ohio beginning Monday, Nov. 4 in Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page’s courtroom.
Is your district part of this historic lawsuit? Check here.
If not, why not? Learn how to get involved here.