Vouchers and Parents

I share Rob's concern (below) about going too far down the "positive, unenumerated rights" road in the voucher context, or in any other. In my own post (more below!), I meant to say -- and I do believe -- that (fit, non-abusive, etc.) parents have a *moral* right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. And while I think there are strong arguments that the Fourteenth Amendment does, in fact, protect certain fundamental, unenumerated rights (via the PI Clause), Rob's hesitation to constitutionalize a right TO educational choice is quite reasonable.

I do not think I can agree, though, with the suggestion that building the school-choice argument on parents' moral rights -- and on family integrity -- takes us too close to the "individualist, autonomy-driven discourse of the surrounding legal culture." It seems to me that an argument emphasizing the importance of family integrity (as opposed to state monopoly) takes us *away* from excessive individualism. No?

Rick