As the voucher flurry of 2005 winds down (see here and here for recent news), a few new developments have popped up. First, a recap of Florida's "opportunity scholarship" debate (see here) one week in advance of the Florida Supreme Court voucher decision highlights the arguments of both supporters and opponents of Florida's Blaine amendment regarding public spending on religious institutions. What will happen next? Stay tuned. And now, after last week's round of good charter news (see here), vouchers are up for a journalistic reappraisal this week. Tuesday's Washington Post puts a human face on the contentious federal D.C. voucher program, telling of the lengths (and distances) one mother in southeast D.C. travels to "take full advantage of the voucher program." Says mom Nikia Hammond: "I am just focusing on what I am doing it for, to pull myself up and my children up." And the Washington Times writes a great story about the implementation of Colorado's college tuition vouchers (for complete details of the program, see here) that are an effort to counter the "Colorado Paradox" - the state ranks first in the nation in the percentage of people over age 25 with a college degree, but the number of resident high schoolers attending college remains surprisingly low. Nancy McCallin of the Colorado Community College System hopes that, by putting "a face on all these dollars," the state colleges will "increasingly have to put the focus on students, or they'll leave."
"Justices to decide future of vouchers," by Joe Follick, Lakeland Ledger, May 31, 2005
"D.C. family finds voucher journey well worth it," by Jay Mathews, Washington Post, May 31, 2005
"College vouchers put a face on funds in Colorado," by George Archibald, Washington Times, May 31, 2005
