Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, through its Institute for Public Affairs, applauded the Ohio state legislature’s passage of legislation re-establishing a school voucher program in the City of Cleveland.

Last month, Ohio’s Supreme Court found the program to be constitutional insofar as separation of church and state issues were concerned, but invalidated the program under a “technical provision” of Ohio’s state constitution. That provision requires legislation to address a “single subject matter.” Thus, for the program to continue, the Ohio legislature had to pass a free-standing bill creating the Cleveland Scholarship Program. The legislation was passed last week over opposition from teachers’ unions and many local and national Democrats. Moreover, the new legislation expands the voucher program to now include children in the sixth and seventh grades.

Nathan Diament, director of the Orthodox Union’s Institute stated that “the passage of this legislation which re-authorizes the Cleveland program and expands it is a significant victory for the school choice movement and a sure sign that the momentum for education reform is only increasing.”