UNITED STATES: The New York Supreme Court has thrown into doubt the teacher unions’ usual strategy for blocking school voucher schemes, which give parents state subsidies to pay fees at the school of their choice. Judges in several states have agreed that vouchers can result in public money going to church schools and are therefore unconstitutional.
But the Supreme Court recently ruled that public school staff could be allowed to run remedial courses in religious schools. Observers believe the court may be relaxing its strict line on the separation of church and state and that the decision will give new hope to voucher supporters.