Legislation was introduced on June 15 proposing to repeal the Blaine Amendment in the New York State constitution.
Enacted by many states in the nineteenth century, the Blaine amendment prohibits the allocation of public money to religious schools.
The proposed legislation would clear the way for vouchers for religious schools.
This is an opportune time for the repeal effort by supporters of religious schools. The proliferation of charter schools has dimmed the bright line that separates public and private schools. Many charter schools are private schools that operate with public funds. They are not open to all. They are free to write their own rules and to kick out kids who don’t live by their rules. They operate with minimal oversight. Most have wealthy directors, usually hedge fund managers, who supply extra funds. Most have a smaller proportion of students with disabilities and English-language learners than their nearby public school. And they claim to be better because they are not regular public schools. Also, there are places like Wisconsin, Indiana, and Louisiana, as well as D.C., that already send public funds to religious schools.
Now that it is hard to know what is a public school and what is a private school, it becomes harder still to explain why it’s okay to send public funds to thousands of privately managed charters but not to religious schools, or why some states may directly fund religious schools and others don’t. And that’s why voucher legislation becomes feasible in these times.
Since the change in the state constitution in New York requires a popular vote, this is no slam-dunk. There may still be voters who remember what they were taught in school about separation of church and state.
Diane
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Diane, do you know who is behind this legislation and why?
Relgious groups that want public funding for their schools.
It just boggles the mind how the corporate billionaires and religious zealots have gained so much power. Control the schools, they control minds and gain even more power.
If the voters of this country do not wake up, and the Democrats do not find a spine and fight this, this country is going into the dustbin of history. Soon enough, the brain drain will start- those smart enough and progressive enoug to realize that the corporate takeover of government combined with the Bible thumpers will destroy civil rights, will simply leave the country.
The result- a bunch of billionaires and millions of lunatic wingnuts with tin foil hats.
Repeal of the Blaine Amendment is pushed by ALEC in their report card on education as a way to allow more school choice. It will also be on our Florida ballot in November. A coalition of groups is opposing the repeal.
“I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute – where no
Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act and no
Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote – where no church or
church school is granted any public funds or political preference…” – John F. Kennedy
Or there might be some voters who remember what they learned in history class about the ugly anti-Catholic bigotry behind these amendments.
It seems like laws that stand the test of time for a 100+ years should not be tampered with. Learning about the Blaine amendment (by reading this blog) with its nearly 200 year survival on the books reminds me about a different law (exact name escapes me) Congress reversed in 2002 in late December that made derivatives on the market legal again—-previously banned as a result of the Depression. Before the reversal in 2002, that law had survived nearly 100 years. Reformers know they have to scrap laws to make their model work.
With that attitude, we would still have slavery and segregation.
It’s easy to understand why money to religous schools is not acceptable. It’s the Constitution. The Bill of Rights. The first amendment.
The Supreme Court has said (in the Zelman case) that you’re wrong — the First Amendment does not require discrimination against religious schools when money is given to the parents, any more than Pell Grants can’t be used at Notre Dame.
Here’s some historical background on the nasty constitutional provision that is the subject of this post: http://stuartbuck.blogspot.com/2003/05/several-liberal-civil-rights-groups.html
I don’t care if public money is used to fund these schools… I think most patents trying to do right by their children by sending them to private school would just appreciate the cost being tax-deductible.