A sharply divided Supreme Court gave its blessing yesterday to the use of public vouchers to fund private and religious schools — handing a major victory to conservatives and President Bush.
The 5-to-4 decision is a landmark in defining church-state relations, with analysts saying it lowers the wall between the two.

The plan "permits such individuals to exercise genuine choice among options public and private, secular and religious," Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the five conservative justices. The voucher ruling drew cheers from President Bush and local advocates like Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who vowed to push for his own state voucher plan.

"A battle was won. The war is just getting started," said Hikind (D-Brooklyn).

But New York parents shouldn't rush to their mailboxes in hopes of finding a ticket out of a failing public school. Nearly a dozen voucher bills are gathering dust in Albany, and the state Constitution effectively bans vouchers.

"Public dollars should not be used to underwrite a private or religious education — especially when we are struggling," said liberal Assemblyman Steven Sanders (D-Manhattan), head of the Education Committee.

Mayor Bloomberg kept quiet on vouchers yesterday, but during the mayoral campaign he denounced the idea as a prescription for disaster for public schools.

The Supreme Court ruling upheld a plan that allows parents in inner-city Cleveland to use taxpayer dollars to give their kids an alternative to one of the nation's worst public school systems.

Even though about 96% of the vouchers were used for Catholic schools, the judges insisted the program does not amount to unconstitutional state sponsorship of religious instruction.

"This landmark ruling is a victory for parents and children throughout America," Bush said. But Associate Justice David Souter and three other justices bitterly rejected the voucher plan as a backdoor way of legalizing state funding for religious education.

Liberals, educators and some civil liberties advocates oppose vouchers because they erode the wall between church and state — and drain scarce tax dollars from struggling public school systems.

"It's always troubling to us when a Supreme Court alters the line between church and state," said Steven Sheinberg of the Anti-Defamation League.

Long Road Ahead

Regardless of the high court's decision, the New York State Constitution includes an iron-clad ban on funding for religious schools except for transportation.

Changing the state Constitution would require votes by two consecutive state Legislatures, plus approval in a public referendum.

Despite the obstacles, there is plenty of demand for educational alternatives, particularly among black and Latino parents whose children are trapped in failing public schools.

Brooklyn parent Richard Kearse was one of about 168,000 city parents who applied for 3,100 scholarships from billionaire Ted Forstmann's Children's Scholarship Fund.

"It's been a blessing," said Kearse, who used the funds to put his son, Richard, in a Catholic school.