Monday, August 15, 2011
Indianapolis, IN — Marion County Superior Court Judge Michael Keele today denied a preliminary injunction, brought by the state teachers’ union, that would have prevented thousands of families from using school vouchers this fall. In the ruling, the court concluded that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claims of constitutional violations.
The voucher program, the nation’s largest, allows low- and middle-income families to use taxpayer funds to send their children to the private school of their choice.
“We applaud the court for affirming the right of Indiana families to send their children to the schools that are best for them,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. “Indiana’s Constitution clearly gives all parents that freedom, and the overwhelming demand we’ve seen for these vouchers in barely a month confirms it’s a freedom Indiana parents strongly desire.”
Governor Mitch Daniels signed the School Scholarship Act into law on May 5, 2011. Vouchers became available since the Indiana Department of Education finished the school and parent applications in late June, and since that time over 2,800 children have received vouchers. Additionally, 255 private schools throughout the state have signed up to accept vouchers.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that state programs making vouchers available for private schools, including parochial schools, do not violate the U.S. Constitution.
About the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice
The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, solely dedicated to advancing Milton and Rose Friedman’s vision of school choice for all children. First established as the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in 1996, the Foundation continues to promote school choice as the most effective and equitable way to improve the quality of K-12 education in America. The Foundation is dedicated to research, education, and outreach on the vital issues and implications related to choice and competition in K-12 education.
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