Submitted and Passed by the National Leaders Council and the Board of Directors of the AEU

Whereas the public schools serve nine out of ten American children, are responsible to parents and voters, and are required to be religiously neutral and non-discriminatory, and

Whereas the funds available to public schools are often meager, especially in inner cities and poor rural areas, and

Whereas taxpayers may rightly fear that tax aid for non-public schools would greatly increase transportation, administrative, and other costs of all education, and might drain resources from the public schools which serve the neediest children, and

Whereas the America Ethical Union has long expressed its stand for the separation of church and state,

Therefore the American Ethical Union opposes any direct or indirect use of public funds — through school vouchers, “opportunity scholarships,” tuition tax credits, equipment loans, or other means — for non-public schools, except for the right of public schools to contract with non-sectarian private institutions for the provision of services to special needs students.

This Resolution does not advocate restricting the use of public funds for those charter schools which are by legislative requirement non-discriminatory, non-profit, and non-sectarian public schools.

We urge that the public education system be strengthened both through increased and more equitable financial support, and through the reduction of bureaucratic barriers to improved performance.