A big blow to the children of poor and working class parents - the SCOTUS ruling now sanctions the use of monies that should be earmarked for public schools into religous institutions or privatized for-profit schools. Another wedge of inequality inserted into the fabric of society and another harmful hit to the hallowed concept of separation of church and state.

School vouchers are a terrible idea ... it takes siphons needed money out of the public schools and redistributes it to more wealthy parents. What's basically being said to 90% of school kids is "Damn you. Damn you all to hell. You don't matter". Brandishing vouchers as "choices and alternatives to failing schools" is subterfuge for the motives of complete privatization of education.

Some talking points from Americans United for Separation of Church and State on reasons for rejecting voucher schemes:

• Vouchers do not spur academic improvement. Objective studies of existing voucher programs in the country have shown little or no academic improvement for voucher students.
  
  
• Members of minority groups do not support vouchers. In 2000, voters in California and Michigan voted on voucher proposals at the ballot box. Both were trounced -- 71 percent to 29 percent in California and 69 percent to 31 percent in Michigan. In California, polls showed that Hispanic voters were even more adamant in their rejection of the plan, voting 77 percent to 23 percent. African-American voters in California rejected vouchers 68 percent to 32 percent. In Michigan, blacks voted down vouchers 72 percent to 28 percent.
  
  
• The general public does not support vouchers. According to a Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll released in August, when people were given the choice of moving to a voucher system or improving public education, 71 percent said they favor improving public education; only 27 percent opted for vouchers.
  
  
• Vouchers do not help poor families. Most vouchers are worth $1,500 to $3,000, yet private-school tuition can easily top $10,000 per year. Poor families would have no way to make up the difference. In Cleveland, a study showed that 33 percent of the families participating in the voucher plan had been sending their children to private schools before the program was implemented. Vouchers can easily end up becoming a subsidy for families who desire a private education at taxpayer expense.
  
  
• Vouchers detract from real school reform. Public education in some parts of the nation is troubled. Studies show what these schools need -- smaller class sizes and more resources. Vouchers detract from the goal of finding ways to give all students a quality education by offering a small number an opportunity to leave public schools. Ninety percent of American children attend public schools. Reform efforts must focus on helping everyone, not just a handful.

The unstated goal is to return our great nation to an era likened to pre-industrial or medieval times, where only the wealthy could afford education, where your lot in life was determined at birth.