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As religious schools in Cleveland watch enrollments rise this fall due to the first educational-voucher program to include such institutions, some are hoping to impart spiritual disciplines to non-Christian children and their parents.

David Mossman, principal of Westside Baptist Christian Elementary School, where 27 students attend through the state-financed tuition supplements, says evangelism to both students and parents is a key part of their mission. "We ask parents the reason they are sending their children here, and often we have times to witness to them," he says.

One such parent is Dennis Widner, whose daughters Carinna and Stacey attend Westside Baptist, thanks to vouchers. While investigating schools, he talked with administrators about what they believe and teach. He became a Christian and now attends the Baptist church that houses the school.

WORST FEARS FOUNDED? Such a scenario is a nightmare that church-state separatists have long been warning about. Along with teacher's unions and public-school advocates, they filed suit to halt the $5.25 million program on the grounds that vouchers have potential use as evangelistic tools.

"These are allegations we've always raised, that part of the character of these schools is the effort of converting and proselytizing children," says Steve K. Green, legal director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "But we haven't hung our hat on it because, to be honest, that's what a lot of parents want."

The suit was struck down July 31 by the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, but it is pending before the Ohio Court of Appeals.

The groups opposing the plan, including Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Education Association's Center for the Advancement of Public Education, say they expect the appeals court to rule before the next school year. For this school year, at least, the first school-voucher program to include religious institutions will continue.

The pilot program is directed at low- and moderate-income students from kindergarten to third grade. The vouchers, which cover $2,500 or 90 percent of tuition, whichever is less, may be used through the eighth grade. Of the 49 participating private schools, 80 percent are religious.

"This threatens the separation of church and state because it ends up funding explicitly religious education," says Green. "We're optimistic that it will be struck down."

Voucher advocates claim parental choice negates any concern for direct financing of religion with tax dollars.

"It's not the state choosing to send the person to a religious school," says Richard Komer, a lawyer with the voucher proponent Institute of Justice. "It's the parent's choice, and that makes it more like higher education, where there are Pell grants and federally funded student loans. In some cases, you can become a minister on federal dollars."

LOOKING ELSEWHERE: These concerns have tempered educational reforms in other locations, including Milwaukee's voucher program, as well as a September proposal from Cardinal John O'Connor and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to send 1,000 public-school students to Catholic schools. In both cases, advocates of the plans have had to turn to private donors instead of tax dollars for financing.

In Milwaukee, organizers hope to raise $4 million to pay for half the amount of scholarships for parents who wish to send their children to private schools. Last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court partially suspended Milwaukee's $4.6 million voucher program because of its inclusion of religious schools (CT, Oct. 23, 1995, p. 78). When the program expanded in August to 15,000 from 1,500 students, a circuit court judge again rejected an effort to include religious schools.

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October 28 1996, Vol. 40, No. 12