Indiana vouchers siphon public school students, funding

Indiana’s law extending school vouchers to middle-income families is causing an outflow of students from public schools to private, primarily religious, schools. School officials joined teachers union leaders in calling the program a stealth subsidy for parochial schools and a drain on already cash-poor public schools.

The Indiana State Teachers Association has filed a lawsuit charging the law violates the state constitution's required separation of church and state. Early numbers bear that out: All but six of the 242 non-public schools so far approved for the voucher program have religious affiliations.

State officials report 3,259 students have enrolled so far in the voucher program. That eclipses the first-year enrollment in Ohio, home of the nation’s only other statewide voucher system.

Indianapolis Star, Aug. 28