School voucher volley: frustrated by a lukewarm reception from Congress, advocates of tax aid to religious schools pass collection plates in the states.

When Georgia state Sen. Eric Johnson announced his intention to introduce a private-school voucher bill in the legislature, reaction was swift.

Johnson's proposal, Sen. Robert Brown (D-Macon) predicted, would spark a "nuclear fight."

"After years of deliberate underfunding, Republicans have severely weakened our public schools," Brown said in a press release. "Now, they are aiming to drive a stake in the heart of our children's future with universal vouchers."

Johnson, a Republican from Savannah, would make tuition vouchers available to virtually any student in the state. He would allow participating religious and other private schools to determine their own admissions policies, and parents would be responsible for providing transportation.

If enacted, the plan (SB 90) would be the nation's most sweeping voucher program. Johnson, who is reportedly interested in running for lieutenant governor, introduced the bill Feb. 2. Since he plans to ride the issue to higher office, a battle royale is expected.

Georgia is not alone. Many states may see "nuclear fights" over vouchers and other forms of tax aid to religious education this year. Although most of the plans being proposed are not as broad as the Georgia proposal, critics say they represent a serious threat to public education and religious liberty.

Religious and political groups that promote public aid to private education, aware that their influence in the U.S. Congress has dwindled, are placing renewed emphasis on state capitals. At last count, 15 states were considering some type of voucher or tuition tax credit/deduction proposal. That number is expected to grow as legislative sessions continue in the states.

Americans United's Legislative Department has been monitoring bills in state legislatures since the new year began. In analyzing the proposals, department staffers noted certain trends. For example, the word "voucher" is rarely used. Instead, tax aid to religious schools is often described as a "scholarship" plan.

In several states, vouchers are aimed at students with disabilities, sometimes specifying students with autism. This is a long-running strategy of the voucher movement. The idea is to secure vouchers for a student population that is often perceived as vulnerable.

Once vouchers are put in place here, proponents hope the plan can be expanded across the board.

AU's preliminary research uncovered the following voucher bills:

* Arizona: Two voucher proposals have been introduced in Arizona. HB 2068 would create a universal voucher plan for all students in the state. The other, HB 2069, is aimed at students in "failing" public schools.

* Colorado: S. 130 would create a pilot voucher plan for students diagnosed with autism

* Florida: Two proposed pieces of legislation--HB 353 and S 1010--would make it easier for students to take part in the state's existing voucher plan for students with disabilities.

* Kentucky: A Kentucky lawmaker wants to establish a voucher plan (HB 118) for "special needs" students, require public schools to tell parents about it and provide testing and transportation to private institutions.

* Mississippi: Two bills--SB 2117 and SB 2502--were introduced that would have established a "scholarship" program for students with disabilities but died in the Senate Education Committee.

* Nevada: SB 81 would provide vouchers for students with "special needs."

* New York: AB 3259 would set up a voucher plan for students with disabilities.

* Oklahoma: HB 1594 would establish a wide-ranging "school choice" program in the state that includes private schools and home schooling.

* Vermont: Proposed legislation would offer vouchers to students who have been subject to harassment in public schools. Under S. 30, if the student's claim of harassment is found to be valid by the Vermont Human Rights Commission, the public school would have to pay tuition at the school of the victim's choice. There would be no limit on the amount of tuition paid.

* Virginia: Lawmakers in Virginia filed two bills dealing with vouchers. HB 1985 would establish a program aimed at students diagnosed with autism. The second bill--H JR 641 would create a joint study committee to examine voucher programs in other states and look for ways to bring the concept--or perhaps tuition tax credits--to Virginia. (The autism bill was voted down by a Senate committee but passed the Virginia House of Delegates; the other measure is pending.)

In addition, bills promoting tuition tax credits and/or deductions are pending in several states, including Arkansas (SB 11), Arizona (HB 2288), Connecticut (SB 283), Florida (HB 453 and SB 916), Georgia (HB 100), Indiana (SB 125), Minnesota (HF 470), Missouri (HB 417), Mississippi (SB 2483), New Jersey (A 1003), Oklahoma (HB 1804) and Virginia (HB 1965 and SB 1221).

Several of the tuition tax credit proposals deal with complicated arrangements that involve donations by private businesses. Under the scheme, businesses donate money to an entity that makes "scholarships" available to private school students. The businesses then take a tax write-off for the full amount donated or part of it.

The plans, called "neo-vouchers" by one scholar, are seen as a way of getting around the bar many state constitutions contain on tax funding of religious education. In Minnesota, where state Rep. Paul Thissen is pushing the idea, leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were enthusiastic about it.

But critics point out that huge tax credits for the businesses that donate to scholarship funds end up draining money from general coffers at a time when many state budgets are already stretched to the limit.

Interestingly, one of the states expected to be the site of a huge voucher battle has yet to see a bill introduced. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has called for a statewide voucher plan, and legislation is expected soon.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

That gambit may be part of a longterm strategy to bring vouchers to the Palmetto State. South Carolina political blogger Jamie Sanderson contends that Howard Rich, a wealthy right-wing political activist in New York best known for his advocacy of term limits for officeholders, has been pouring money into statewide races, aiming to build support for vouchers.

Sanderson reported that Rich and businessman Patrick Byrne rounded up a core of wealthy supporters to finance the candidacy of Jill Kelso, who won a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives in November. Kelso supports school vouchers.

Examining campaign-finance reports, Sanderson found that a Rich associate, Joseph Stilwell, donated $30,000 during the 2006 election cycle to pro-voucher candidates.

Well-heeled pro-voucher advocates have tried similar tactics in other states. In Louisiana, voucher boosters poured money into state races and elected a slate of candidates. The effort paid off last year: In June, Louisiana lawmakers passed a bill giving vouchers worth $6,300 to private school patrons from New Orleans households that earn a maximum of 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

But in other states, a backlash has ensued. In Utah, Byrne, the founder of the retail Web site overstock.com, used $3 million of his money and influence to persuade legislators to pass a voucher plan. Angry state residents put the matter on the ballot and voted it down in November of 2007, 62 percent to 38 percent. In the wake of that defeat, Byrne announced that he was "ashamed" of Utah and vowed to take his crusade elsewhere.

Byrne may have a hard time convincing South Carolinians as well. A poll taken in May found that only 30 percent of state residents said they support vouchers. Another poll taken a few months later showed especially strong opposition among African Americans.

National polls have yielded similar results, with majorities saying they oppose tax funding of religious education. At the ballot box, vouchers have also fared poorly. Voters have routinely rejected voucher referenda, usually by wide margins.

Prior to the Utah vote, vouchers appeared on ballots in California and Michigan in the year 2000. Both were creamed; 71 percent voted against them in California and 69 percent in Michigan.

Vouchers may lack public support because they don't deliver results. Studies of the nation's existing programs have shown time and again that students who use vouchers to attend private institutions do no better academically than their peers in public schools.

Many Americans are also wary of vouchers because they know that private schools are not accountable to the public and play by their own set of rules. Over the years, teachers have been fired from religious schools for getting pregnant out of wedlock, marrying outside the sponsoring church or running afoul of some other religious tenet. Many of the fired teachers have filed lawsuits but lost in court.

Religious schools are also free to expel or deny admission to any student for almost any reason. In California, officials at the California Lutheran High School in Wildomar expel-led two 16-year-old girls on the mere belief that they were lesbians. The two sued but have lost in court so far.

Despite these problems, plans proliferate--as this year's spate of voucher bills in the states proves. What drives the movement?

Vouchers bring together two strains of conservative thought. One branch consists of extreme free-market advocates who oppose public education (and many other government services) on philosophical grounds. Even where public schools are successful, members of this faction still oppose them, insisting that private services are always superior to public ones.

Joining groups like this are various religious lobbies and pressure groups, which seek government funding to shore up sectarian school systems. For many years, the Roman Catholic hierarchy accounted for much of this bloc. Although most American Catholics now send their children to public schools, church leaders have continued to press for tax funding of parochial education.

The growth of Christian fundamentalist schools and home schooling in the 1970s and '80s led some conservative Protestants to join the Catholic leadership in pressing for vouchers.

Despite the tumult, one statistic has remained constant: 90 percent of Americans with school-aged children send them to public institutions. As states across the nation tighten their belts in light of ongoing economic uncertainty, many advocates of public education wonder why vouchers are being discussed at all. In a time of scarce resources, they argue, funds should go to the public system, which is open to all young people and is accountable to the taxpayers through democratically elected school boards.

"Vouchers don't work, they drain resources from public schools and they violate the religious liberty rights of the people," said Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "We must make sure that this latest round of ill-considered voucher bills in the states see quick defeat."