Bush Administration Urges High Court To Uphold Religious School Vouchers.

The Bush administration has filed a legal brief with the Supreme Court, urging the justices to uphold Ohio's religious school voucher subsidy.

The move was considered unusual, because the federal government does not usually weigh in on a legal controversy until the high court has agreed to take a case. The Supreme Court has not yet said if it will hear Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, although a decision on whether to do so is expected in October.

President George W. Bush has been an enthusiastic booster of voucher aid to religious schools, although he dropped a voucher provision from his federal education package in the face of strong congressional opposition.

In the Justice Department brief, written by Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson, the administration argues that "it is in the Nation's interest" for the high court to take the case. The brief goes on to argue that the Ohio plan is constitutional, asserting that it benefits religion only in an incidental and indirect way. Olson says previous high court decisions striking down government aid to religious schools have been eroded by more recent cases.

Ohio's plan has been in operation since 1995. It offers low-income parents in Cleveland public schools vouchers to pay for tuition at religious and other private schools. Approximately 3,700 children are currently taking part in the program, and 96 percent of them are attending religiously affiliated schools.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Ohio Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups challenged the program in court. Last December, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the program violates the First Amendment.

The state of Ohio has also asked the Supreme Court to take the case and brought in a big gun to pitch its case, hiring Kenneth W. Start, the former inde pendent counsel during the Clinton years. Start, now back in private practice, works for a law firm in Washington.

Starr's brief for Ohio makes many of the same arguments as the Bush administration, asserting, "Not only is the resolution of this issue of vital interest to the parents and children of Ohio, it is of pivotal importance to the future of education policy across the country."

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Start is being paid up to $10,000 a month for three months.