This has almost nothing to do with "separation of church and state" (not a Constitutional imperative anyway). It has everything to do with the relative strength of teachers' unions and political clout at various levels.
Apparently even "non-denominational" private schools are also excluded from participating in the program.
The ultimate losers are the children who, for want of a viable alternative, are forced to be warehoused in non-performing public schools, and doomed to a life of unrealized potential. Not all of them, of course, as there shall be some very savvy students who rise above the limitations of their scholastic surroundings, and manage to teach themselves, becoming true stars of learning excellence.
But these same individuals may very well have fallen into a cycle of despair and failure instead. And that would have been the unforgivable crime against all humanity.
"This has almost nothing to do with "separation of church and state" (not a Constitutional imperative anyway). It has everything to do with the relative strength of teachers' unions and political clout at various levels."
You are absolutely right. This would mean that repairing a sidewalk in front of a church is unconstitutional. When money is payed to welfare recipients how many of those people in turn put a dollar in the collection plate? Therefore using the misconstrued, poor thinking of these judges welfare payments violate the separation of church and state because some of the money finds its way into churches.