School Choice at national and state levels is based around a single foundation. That foundation is the Blaine Amendment. The Blaine Amendment was proposed by Congressman James G. Blaine, in 1875, to prevent government aid in funding religious education. The goal was to force Catholic immigrants to be subjected to the system of assimilation into public schools, and to prevent state governments from favoring any religion through education. The amendment was proposed in an era of anti-Catholicism, which allowed for the amendment to stand a chance. Even though the proposed amendment did not receive enough votes to be adopted into the constitution, this would not stop it from being taken into effect at the state level. Thirty-eight states created provisions for the amendment, which still affect students to the present day.
As previously stated, Blaine created the amendment during a time when America was filled with anti-Catholicism, and the amendment would have been used to prevent Catholics from going to religious school; since then, time has evolved and modernized the amendment, changing its context. The Blaine Amendment provisions not only include religious schools, but also includes private, magnet, and charter schools. In the case of Pennsylvania, the Blaine Amendment's constitutional provision is, “No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to, or used for the support of any sectarian school. (Pennsylvania Const. Art. 3, § 15.)" (Institute of Justice). The provision states that any money raised for a public school of the Commonwealth will not be used in the support of any sectarian school. The compelled support clause for the provision is, “[N]o man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent.… (Pennsylvania Const. Art. 1, § 3.)" (Institute of Justice). This states that no one can be subjugated to any support of any kind of ministry without consent. Though it seems fair to not force people to be in support of any ministry without consent, people will force others to change their opinions in an era of judgment. Pennsylvania does have vouchers, which assist students in attending non-public schools; however, accessibility to different school options is still limited. Non-traditional schools are still not getting funding through public levels. Moreover, Pennsylvania has some leeway; other states do not, which prevents students from going to other forms of school. In conclusion, Pennsylvania has school choice rights, but they need to have better public funding. In addition, other states need help with school choice rights, because they do not have proper rights to help students to go to other forms of school besides public ones. Article Written by Joseph DuPree Sources: -Institute of Justice -University of Notre Dame |