Indiana House rejects school-voucher proposal [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Indiana House rejects school-voucher proposal

By The Associated Press
04.08.05
INDIANAPOLIS — The House gutted provisions of a bill that would allow parents to use state money to pay for their children to attend private schools, with 10 Republicans joining all 47 Democrats in rejecting the proposal yesterday.

Opponents said the voucher plan — which had been added as an amendment to Senate Bill 281 — was a radical change that would drain state tax dollars from public schools and use them to subsidize private schools.

“My support for private schools and private education does not extend to the support of public funding for those schools,” said Rep. Joe Micon, D-West Lafayette.

Some voucher opponents also say using government funds to send children to religious schools would violate separation of church and state. About 80% of private-school students attend religious schools, Lindsey Mintz, a lobbyist for the Jewish Community Relations Council, told The Indianapolis Star
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http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15097