Several smaller voucher proposals are also making their way through the courts. The Vermont Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the town of Chittenden's efforts to allow high school students to use vouchers to attend religious schools. The town, like many in the state with no high schools of their own, pays tuition for its students at private nonsectarian schools or public schools in other communities. The town now wants to pay the tuition of students who attend a nearby Roman Catholic high school. Loss of Students Feared Meanwhile, voucher advocates and opponents from around the country were in a Pennsylvania courtroom last week to argue over a proposed voucher plan of the Southeast Delaware County district.
Opponents argue that there is no authority under state law to provide such assistance.
A ruling is pending. And it is not just publicly funded vouchers that are drawing attention this year. The 14,000-student district anticipated last month that it could lose as many as 1,000 students to the offer from the CEO America Foundation, based in Bentonville, Ark. Backers of the private voucher plan say they chose the Texas district because it is large enough for their offer to make an impact and small enough to aid every interested child. The Milwaukee voucher program, however, is in a position to make the biggest impact by virtue of the fact that it is the first such proposal to reach the Supreme Court. Some voucher supporters were excited because the coalition that opposes the Milwaukee program decided to appeal the case to the high court.