Bacon's Rebellion

Surovell is Wrong About School Vouchers

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by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), Senate Majority Leader

As much as I generally respect Sen. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax), Senate majority leader, he is mistaken in some recent comments about Governor Youngkin’s proposed Opportunity Grant program.

As reported in the Virginia Political Newsletter, Surovell declared, “Private school vouchers are expressly prohibited by the constitution of Virginia. The language was inserted when they wrote the Constitution in 1970 to prevent exactly what happened during massive resistance when the General Assembly funded students going to the Prince Edward Academy and other schools to avoid desegregated public schools.”

According to A.E.Dick Howard’s, Commentaries on the Constitution of Virginia, the language prohibiting the “appropriation of public funds to any school or institution of learning not owned or exclusively controlled by the State or some political subdivision thereof” was added to the Virginia constitution at the infamous 1902 convention. As our frequent commenter, tmt, can attest, it was aimed at parochial schools. The provision was amended in 1956 to provide for an exception for tuition grants intended to get around desegregation requirements, but that provision was ultimately struck down by federal courts.

Howard is viewed as the ultimate authority on the Virginia constitution. His comments regarding this provision deserve being quoted at length in this situation:

“After all the furor—probably no other single section occupied so much of the 1969 debates—section 10 appears in the Constitution exactly as it did when it was section 141. Yet the ambiguity in the federal district court’s ruling on the section leaves some question on as to whether section 141 is constitutional under federal law….If the General Assembly decides to adopt, based on section 10, some form of aid to private education that in purpose and effect is demonstrably free of any racial taint, it seems improbable that a federal court would point to the 1969 decision and say that the section could not be used even for such innocent ends.” ( A.E.Dick Howard, Commentaries on the Constitution of Virginia, Volume II, p, 954,

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2 responses to “Surovell is Wrong About School Vouchers”

  1. Kathleen Smith Avatar
    Kathleen Smith

    What is exact section of the constitution. I only see article Viii section 1?

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    re: " He is arguing, I gather, that any voucher for a private school is unconstitutional, whether it is a religious school or not."

    To me, it's the fundamental basis for justifying the use of taxpayer money
    for some purpose without state oversight.

    It's the reason why we have BOV in higher Ed.

    And the rules associated with providing state funds to public schools, i.e. oversight of the use of those funds – SOQs, SOLS, accreditation and accountability.

    That's where all those strings come from , the state asserting oversight of taxpayer money spent for a state purpose.

    It makes zero sense to give taxpayer money to ANY enterprise without State oversight of how the money is spent. It's actually irresponsible for the state to do so.

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