American Jews were strong supporters of equal educational opportunity for all children in the civil rights era, but the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee oppose school vouchers (and therefore the Supreme Court's recent Zelman verdict), equating support for this reform with rejection of public education. Rather than fight school choice, argue Seth Leibsohn and Checker Finn, Jewish leaders should embrace it as a civil right that would not only offer poor children a shot at a better education (and promote competition that would improve U.S. public schools) but also combat the problem of declining Jewish identity, as more Jewish parents could take advantage of the option to send their children to Jewish day schools. "Key to Continuity," by Seth Leibsohn and Chester E. Finn Jr., National Review Online, July 17, 2002.
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Chester E. Finn, Jr.