Arizona nixes vouchers

Don't even get me started on vouchers for private schools. A longtime cause celebre of the Far Right, this is one issue that perfectly melds conservative social engineering and contempt for us working poor. Conservatives use the issue to claim they're a friend of the poor, but what the idea really does is exploit the poor to advance an agenda. (If voucher supporters cared so much about the working poor, why do they generally support slashing assistance and other programs that benefit low-income families? Notice also that in voter initiatives, poor areas reject vouchers by much wider margins.)

I've argued this a zillion times, and vouchers are always found to be a failed promise. True to form, studies have found no benefits from voucher "experiments." And public schools are already cash-strapped, so why not fund public schools? I thought that's what public meant.

But now the Arizona Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled that a state law that spends taxpayers' money on vouchers that must be used at private schools violates the Arizona Constitution, which specifically bars taxpayer funding of private schools.

Gee, ya think? The court is right: The Arizona Constitution plainly says you can't use public funds on private schools, so how did voucher enthusiasts even think they could win their case? Arizona's limited voucher program was actually a test case by conservatives to see if they could enact a much larger program.

Infuriatingly, the state's Catholic bishops plan to appeal the judges' ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, which is more proof of how political the Church's bureaucracy has become.

(Source: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/116404)