Ariz. appeals court rules against ACLU

[gsvol]

upholds tuition program for kids.

I love it when the ACLU loses one.

“Parents should be able to choose the right school for their children. When it comes to our children’s education, the ACLU suddenly drops its talk of ‘freedom’ and ‘choice,’” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “This program gives Arizonans a broad range of educational choices. To block those choices simply because the program allows religious and secular schools to participate equally is nothing short of discrimination. The court certainly made the right decision.”

The state program for corporate taxpayers allows tuition scholarships to be used by students at public or private schools, including religious schools. The ACLU filed suit contending that the inclusion of religious schools is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The court disagreed, ruling that the law that established the program, Section 43-1183 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, “does not violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. Section 43-1183 has a valid, secular purpose; it does not have the effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion, because it is neutral towards religion and provides for genuine private choice; and §43-1183 does not involve excessive governmental entanglement.”

 

[MG1968]

Arizona did what Obama was too scared to do, buck the teachers' unions.

 

[gsvol]

Arizona did what Obama was too scared to do, buck the teachers' unions.

(Man are the Vols kicking some Bama buttocks or what? 62/37 right now, how sweet it is.)

Obama is a fellow traveler with the teachers union.

When the rubber meets the road, it's all about money -- and President Obama's budget plan handsomely rewards Big Education.

Obama's budget will vastly increase federal funding in several key areas -- early childhood education (read: indoctrination at a younger age), data collection, and raising Pell Grants and student-loan funding for higher education.

With the exception of the college-payment programs, most of these federal dollars devoted to education will go toward hiring more personnel to work for the (unionized) school districts. In turn, by adding more union members who pay more union dues, the political arm of the education lobby will become even fatter, happier and more powerful than ever.

Meanwhile, the children of Obama's adopted home school district in Washington, DC, will be among the losers.

The DC Opportunity Scholarships program, which gave low-income children a chance at the same education that Obama's daughters enjoy at their private academy, was gutted by a "stimulus" provision prohibiting the funding of scholarships to private schools.

This was particularly interesting in light of the new U.S.-taxpayer funded scholarship program for Palestinian students to enter Palestinian or American universities.

That's over and above the $900 million the Obama administration recently promised to help rebuild Gaza.