BY MEGAN ARNEY
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a ruling June 10 to extend the use of publicly funded vouchers to pay for religious schools. The move, a first in the United States, allows the state government to allocate $5,000 vouchers directly to parents of children who will attend religious schools in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee already had 1,500 students attending nonreligious private schools with vouchers. With the new ruling, the number is estimated to jump to about 15,000. For each student who uses vouchers for private schools, the public school budget is cut by about $5,000.

The state supreme court rejected arguments by the Wisconsin chapter of the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and other organizations, who argued that the extension of the voucher program violated the First Amendment's separation of church and state. Wisconsin's highest court rejected this argument 4-2, claiming the plan would not give money directly to religious schools, but the parents of students. The ACLU said it will appeal the ruling.

The city of Cleveland, which currently gives vouchers for 2,000 students to attend nonreligious private schools, also has provisions for parochial schools, but these have been blocked by a state appeals court.

A variant on the voucher system that has been implemented more widely is so-called charter schools - private educational facilities that receive government funding. Currently, there are 784 charter schools nationwide.

In his June 13 syndicated column, ultrarightist Patrick Buchanan heralded the Wisconsin supreme court's decision as historic and a "cause for rejoicing." He added, "Even if the Milwaukee victory is validated by the high court, the battle for public opinion is not yet won," and argued for "granting vouchers to all parents, not just the poor but the middle class." Buchanan then went on to call for dress codes, harsher discipline, teaching religion and "values," as well as "genuinely free and fair competition" in public education.  
 
 
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