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CNN Live Today

Supreme Court Rules School Vouchers Legal

Aired June 27, 2002 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Supreme Court ruled this morning, just a little while ago, that school vouchers are legal as long as parents have a wide choice between religious and secular schools. Scholars say this is perhaps the most important case before the justices this term. This case involves The school system in Cleveland, Ohio. The Ohio legislature authorized the voucher program there in 1995, because the city had so many failing schools; 3,800 students now were using vouchers, and 95 percent of them, according to reports, are going to schools that are affiliated with a religion.

Betty Montgomery is Ohio's attorney general. Her office argued in favor of the vouchers before the Supreme Court. She joins us from Columbus, Ohio. And David Strom is with the American Federation of Teachers, which opposes vouchers. He's in our Washington bureau this morning.

Thank you for taking time to talk with us this morning. Welcome to both of you.

I'd like to begin with you, General Montgomery, first of all, because your side actually won the argument this morning.

What exactly does this mean for your state?

BETTY MONTGOMERY, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think it means a great deal for this state. We have been struggling with a school system that was universally failing, academically, as well as financially. It had been taken over by the state. The legislature trying to adopt some method to address this problem, adopted this scholarship program, and I think this will allow us to remove the cloud of constitutionality problems from it, and I expect you will see that the program will now begin to flourish a little more.

HARRIS: David Strom, I'm assuming you don't agree with that.

DAVID STROM, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: That's right, I don't believe this ruling is a ringing endorsement of vouchers at all. And in fact, a majority of the students in the schools are in public schools, the vast majority. What's important is to put the resources where those students are, and to make sure that those resources are used on proven programs of education, based on standards, high standards, using highly trained teachers.

We have many examples of success. The schools are improving in many cities, Hartford, Baltimore, even Cleveland they're dramatic improvements.

The fact is that these programs, which are reading based, math based, have achieved dramatic results. In fact, in this morning's "Washington Post," there is an example of an inner-city school, Anacostia, which is equally and in fact doing a little better than the peer school in northwest, which is our affluent suburb.

We have the resources, and we need to put the resources in our public schools to make sure that the majority of the students benefit from those, and not to distract that effort and put it where a small minority of children have access in voucher schools.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask you this, Attorney General Montgomery. I want to ask you about one part of the ruling. It says here is that as long as parents have a wide choice between religious and secular schools. The problem that, you know, that some scholars have with looking at it right now, is that it seems to be a rather transparent decision, because there doesn't seem to be right now, in existence, a very wide choice between these kinds of schools.

MONTGOMERY: I will have to respectfully disagree with you, and say that if you look at the opinion, as you well listen to our argument, as we made them in front of the court, there are plenty of choices we are offering students, and I would have to respectfully disagree with our friend that just spoke, and say. And we have said, this is not the only thing that we are suggesting will help, it is one of the tools, in a system that has thus far failed to educate -- when one out of 10 students in that school system are not able to pass 9th grade proficiency test, we've got a problem.

And so we have got tutorial programs, we've got community school programs, we've got magnet programs, and as another offering, again, looking at the state as a laboratory of democracy, and policy, we have added this one choice, this choice program, to say, for some schools, for some students, for some parents, this may make a difference for these kids. And I certainly have to tell you, there is nothing -- I know that the policy makers, because I was one of them at the time, are not saying, we want to dismantle the public education program.

All we're saying is we want it add yet another tool for those groups of students that seem somehow to be failing and -- or a school system that seems to be failing.

HARRIS: That is one of the accusations I have heard about. In final word, Mr. Strom, it sounds like, in this case, the kids win, do they not?

STROM: I would say in this case really the majority of the kids don't, because there is 80,000 students in the Cleveland public schools. They are the ones where the attention should be devoted on. They are the ones that should be receiving the money, rather than taking the money out of the Cleveland public schools and giving it to only 3,000 or in voucher schools.

The majority attention should be on where the majority of the students are in Cleveland and around the country, and making sure they get resources they get, the help, and they get the support, which is going to benefit the majority. The public has spoken to this, and expressed their will as well. In case after case, where the issue has been debated in state legislatures, they have said, we should put our hopes and our future into where our students are attending school, which is the public schools. We shouldn't view this as a distraction. It's really a false panacea.

How do we justify spending $15 million on 3,000 students when there is at least 80,000 who should getting majority of our opinion. And then to say that our job is done. Our job should focus on those public schools, and they are doing much better. There are examples all around the country where they are improving in dramatic ways.

HARRIS: I'm so sorry to cut you off like that, but we are just running out of time. We have crammed so tight this morning with all the breaking news we were covering. We really are running out of time this morning. I want to thank both of you for coming in and talking with us this morning.

Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery and David Strom with the American Federation of Teachers. This debate will continue, and no doubt it will continue here on CNN. Take care.

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