By Ryan Quinn Staff, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Republicans’ non-public school vouchers bill is a sweeping example of what supporters call school choice.
Parents would receive roughly $4,600 per child to home- or private-school their children. For those pursuing the latter option, the choices are limited. Of West Virginia’s 17 private schools with enrollments of more than 200, only Wheeling’s Linsly School was secular. A voucher used at that historic school would cover just a fourth of the $17,850 annual tuition cost for a day middle student.
Each of the remaining 16 largest private schools is Christian. Many hold exclusionary religious beliefs that public schools cannot because of protections against discrimination and constitutional safeguards for freedom of religion.
Religiously affiliated colleges, on the other hand, must agree to federal anti-discrimination provisions to accept federal student aid money, said University of South Carolina law professor Derek W. Black, author of “Schoolhouse Burning” about what he describes as a modern assault on public education.
No antidiscrimination provisions aside from one referring to race appear in the vouchers bill. Lawmakers could add LGBT or other protections if they chose…