Zelman v. Simmons-Harris - American Education

A 5-4 United States Supreme Court decision in 2002 that the SCHOOL VOUCHER program in Cleveland, Ohio, was constitutional. The Court declared that any program that allows parents to use vouchers to pay for religious school tuition for their children was constitutional as long as the state and school district remained “neutral” with respect to religion and designed the program solely to broaden the choice of schools for children in districts limited to failing public schools. In this case, the district “failed to meet any of the 18 state standards for minimal acceptable performance,” according to the Court decision. “Only 1 in 10 ninth graders could pass a basic proficiency examination, and students at all levels performed at a dismal rate compared with students in other Ohio public schools. More than two-thirds of high school students either dropped out or failed out before graduation. Of those who managed to reach their senior year, one of every four still failed to graduate. Of those who did graduate, few could read, write, or compute at levels comparable to their counterparts in other cities.” Under those circumstances, the Court ruled, the Cleveland, Ohio, program “benefits directly to a wide spectrum of individuals . . . [and] permits . . . genuine choice among options public and private. . . .”