School vouchers face court test

President Bush set aside wide-scale voucher plans

The future of school vouchers, a flagship education policy for conservatives in the United States, is to be tested in a series of cases at the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, the court announced it would hear three cases relating to a voucher scheme in Cleveland, Ohio.

School vouchers, which have been supported by the Bush administration and by right-wingers in the United Kingdom, seek to introduce a more free-market approach to education.

Iain Duncan Smith has argued for a voucher-style scheme for the UK

Under such schemes, parents have "vouchers" which "buy" them a place at school, whether in the state or private sector.

But opponents in the United States have argued that it is unconstitutional to allow public money to be spent on private schools which might be affiliated to a religious group.

There is a constitutional block on public money promoting religion - and opponents want the Supreme Court to rule that this makes the voucher scheme ineligible for state funding.

Inner-city schools

Parents in the Cleveland scheme can receive up to $2,500 worth of vouchers for each child each year.

During the presidential election campaign, the Republicans presented school vouchers as a way of rescuing inner-city pupils from sink schools.

But a coalition of opponents, including many Democrats and teachers' unions, attacked vouchers as threatening the long-term viability of a state education system.

And wider-ranging plans for school voucher schemes were left out of the education package that was eventually put forward by the Bush administration on taking office.

Despite their continued appeal to conservatives, including in the United Kingdom, school vouchers have never appeared to inspire much enthusiasm from parents.

In California, a proposal to introduce what would have been the largest ever voucher scheme was heavily defeated in a public referendum last year.

A referendum in Michigan also turned down proposals for school vouchers.

'Credit' system

School vouchers returned to the political agenda in the United Kingdom during the leadership contest for the Conservative party.

Iain Duncan Smith's campaign included calls for a "credit" system, in which parents with children in failing schools could receive state funds to study elsewhere.

But his opponent Kenneth Clarke said that such voucher schemes had been explored and rejected by previous Conservative governments.