Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, through its Institute for Public Affairs, welcomed a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court  to let stand an Arizona Supreme Court decision which upheld the constitutionality of a state tax credit for those who donate money to parochial school scholarship funds.  Arizona provides up to $500 in dollar-for-dollar tax credits for charitable donations to eligible private schools -- and religious schools are among those eligible. For taxpayers, that's more advantageous than the simple tax deduction for other charitable donations, including those to religious organizations.

Nathan Diament, director of the Institute for Public Affairs, reacted to the high court's decision with the following statement:

The momentum continues to build for education choice. One cannot read too much into a Supreme Court decision not to take a case.  However, this decision, together with the Court's decision last term to let the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling upholding the Milwaukee voucher program to stand, clearly signals that our nation's highest court does not view properly structured efforts to support parents' full range of educational choices - including choosing parochial education - as unconstitutional.  We look forward to the Supreme Court's decisions in this new term further strengthening this principle.