702
Souter, J., dissenting
there is surely no point in requiring the choice to be a true or real or genuine one.10
from "traditional" public schools is their thematic focus, which in some cases appears to be nothing more than creative marketing. See, e. g., Cleveland Municipal School District, Magnet and Thematic Programs/ Schools (including, as magnet schools, "[f]undamental [e]ducation [c]enters," which employ "[t]raditional classrooms and teaching methods with an emphasis on basic skills"; and "[a]ccelerated [l]earning" schools, which rely on "[i]nstructional strategies [that] provide opportunities for students to build on individual strengths, interests and talents").
10 And how should we decide which "choices" are "genuine" if the range of relevant choices is theoretically wide open? The showcase educational options that the majority and Justice O'Connor trumpet are Cleveland's 10 community schools, but they are hardly genuine choices. Two do not even enroll students in kindergarten through third grade, App. 162a, and thus parents contemplating participation in the voucher program cannot select those schools. See Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3313.975(C)(1) (West Supp. 2002) ("[N]o new students may receive scholarships unless they are enrolled in grade kindergarten, one, two, or three"). One school was not "in operation" as of 1999, and in any event targeted students below the federal poverty line, App. 162a, not all voucher-eligible students, see n. 21, infra. Another school was a special population school for students with "numerous suspensions, behavioral problems and who are a grade level below their peers," App. 162a, which, as Justice O'Connor points out, may be "more attractive to certain inner-city parents," ante, at 674, but is probably not an attractive "choice" for most parents.
Of the six remaining schools, the most recent statistics on fourth-grade student performance (unavailable for one school) indicate: three scored well below the Cleveland average in each of five tested subjects on state proficiency examinations, one scored above in one subject, and only one community school, Old Brooklyn Montessori School, was even an arguable competitor, scoring slightly better than traditional public schools in three subjects, and somewhat below in two. See Ohio Dept. of Ed., 2002 Community School Report Card, Hope Academy, Lincoln Park, p. 5; id., Hope Academy, Cathedral Campus, at 5; id., Hope Academy, Chapelside Campus, at 5; id., Hope Academy, Broadway Campus, at 5; id., Old Brooklyn Montessori School, at 5; 2002 District Report Card, Cleveland Municipal School District, p. 1. These statistics are consistent with 1999 test results, which were only available for three of the schools. Brief for Ohio School Boards Association et al. as Amici Curiae 26-28 (for example, 34.3% of students
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