Vouchers are the life-line for the Catholic schools

One of Republican lawmakers’ strongest allies in the fight for vouchers is the Catholic Church. With an exodus of parishioners to the suburbs and the rise of tuition-free charter schools, Catholic school enrollment has plunged 60% from its peak of 5.2 million in the early 1960s. Catholic educators view vouchers as a way to slow a resulting tsunami of school closures. Their lobbying helped convince Boehner, a product of Cincinnati Catholic schools, to revive the D.C. voucher program. -- Thomas Toch, "Vouchers Redux"