Posted on 07/01/2002 9:31:57 AM PDT by LarryLied
President Bush, who last year lost a fight for school vouchers, was touting the idea again Monday following a new Supreme Court ruling upholding such a program here.
Opening a week of travel to states critical to his re-election, Bush brought school choice and an array of domestic initiatives to Cleveland on Monday under his catchall "compassionate agenda" banner. Also on the table: initiatives on home ownership, welfare and a major role for religious charities in the delivery of social services.
Bush's budget includes new school choice options, including a voucher program of sorts. It would offer a $2,500-per-child education tax credit for families whose children attend private schools instead of failing neighborhood public schools. The five-year, $3.5 billion proposal would also cover books, computers, transportation and supplies.
The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision Thursday upheld a program in inner-city Cleveland that gives mostly poor parents a tuition subsidy of up to $2,250 per child at parochial and other nonpublic schools. The court held that the program "is neutral in all respects toward religion."
Bush's trip to Ohio followed a weekend in which he had a colon screening and turned power over briefly to Vice President Dick Cheney. Tuesday, Bush visits Wisconsin, and Thursday it's West Virginia.
Monday's trip was also meant as an outreach effort to minority voters who have viewed Bush with suspicion. Black voters supported Bush's Democratic opponent, Al Gore, by a 9-1 margin in the last presidential election. Bush was addressing what the White House called an "inner-city compassion rally."
Appearing with Bush was Gov. Bob Taft, who is facing re-election this year and, if successful, will be able to boost Bush in 2004 in Ohio - the seventh-largest prize in presidential elections.
Monday was Bush's seventh visit to the state. Tuesday will be his sixth to Wisconsin, which he lost narrowly to Gore. He will again discuss welfare there. Thursday's July Fourth trip will be his fourth to West Virginia, a traditionally Democratic state Bush won in 2000.
Bush was stepping back into the voucher battle after losing a round last year with Congress.
He proposed during his campaign to strip federal funds from the worst-performing schools and to make them available to parents for private education vouchers.
Congress wouldn't go along, and Bush instead signed an education overhaul bill without them. In the new law, public schools where scores failed to improve two years in a row can receive more federal aid, but if scores still failed to improve, low-income students could receive tutoring or transportation to another public school.
Under the Cleveland voucher program, parents may spend the money they receive at private academies, church-run schools or at suburban public schools with better academic credentials. In practice, more than 95 percent of the participating schools are church-affiliated.
If this had been a liberal victory, this would, of course, had been reported just as "The Supreme Court's decision."
What conservatives should do is have our representatives in every state sponsor voucher bills. Doesn't cost us a thing to do that. But the left will be forced to scurry all over the nation trying to kill the bills. And once they kill one, we sponsor another. The legal and PR campaign bills for them will be enormous.
The more $$$ they have to spend on this, the less they have to spend on Democrat candidates this fall and beyond.
That's smart politics. The only political differences between you and I is the subject of Israel. I like your thinking here. Sun Tzu said that when there's a fire within the enemy's camp, start one outside the camp. Watching them scurrying around is not only fun, but destructive to them overall.
I think you should call your local state chairman and ask him to get on busy.
You or anyone else care to do an activism thread on this? We could list who to contact in all the states. Keeping it bumped to the top would get the attention of our reps and those in the media too.
The last thing we should do is sit back and think we have won a victory. The left knew they would lose this one and have their forces all ready to lobby legislatures all over the nation. Let's give them something to fight.
(we'll give the Yankee states some kind of a handicap to make it fair)
Please ping me when you post!
btw...Florida was the first to have a state wide voucher plan. Now it needs to be expanded.
Well, Wisconsin was one of the first and most successful states to try the voucher program. Pretty good for a "Yankee" state, huh?
Most school districts are funded directly from state and local property taxes anyway.
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