Let us all hail Texas' Constitution, written with the wisdom, bumps and bruises that come from a long process of trial and error through Mexican rule, independence, struggling Republic, new state and then post-slavery reconstructed state. There have been “over the fifty year period from 1827 to 1876, seven constitutions ... formulated and implemented for Texas,” one wise history informs me.

There are two sections of the state Constitution that merit praise for today's topic.

I want to thank John Folks, former Northside Independent School District superintendent, for bringing them to our attention. He did this in a town hall meeting on school choice last week, an event sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News and the University of Texas, San Antonio.

First, Article 1, Section 7, from the Constitution's Bill of Rights: “No money shall be appropriated, or drawn from the Treasury for the benefit of any sect, or religious society, theological or religious seminary; nor shall property belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purposes.”

Next, a portion of Article 7, Section 5: “The permanent school fund and the available school fund may not be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.”

Seems pretty clear. Barring constitutional amendments, no public funds to finance private religious schools. Where the U.S. Constitution's treatment of religion may contain room for interpretation, Texas' is far more specific.

Folks wins the cutting-to-the-chase award.

Fortunately, there were a whole lot of smart folks early on who saw the wisdom of separating church and state. So freedom to worship does not mean freedom to have the education attached to your worship publicly funded.

It is said that the U.S. Constitution is a “granting” document, while Texas' is a “limiting” one. Let's see if all those strict constructionists in Texas, when it comes to the U.S. Constitution, see the state's constitution through the same lens.

Amend the Constitution? It would at least be an interesting test of whether Texans have thought through this voucher thing.

And I suppose that some will make the argument that the most recent incarnation — a “tax credit scholarship” funded by businesses that would then receive state tax credits — is not really state funding. Well, yes it is. Giving a business a tax break — money that would otherwise go to the treasury — to pay into a fund for “scholarships” simply amounts to money laundering.

There were other experts on the town hall panel — Justice Foundation President Allan Parker, former state Rep. Kent Grusendorf and Shelley Potter of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel.

Grusendorf said the issue is freedom, liberty and civil rights.

Well, that freedom, as Potter and Folks said, already exists. Parents are free to send their kids to private schools. They just aren't free to make me pay for it. Whose civil rights are violated if I am forced to and where is the civil right concern over the state Legislature's refusal to properly fund public schools?

Right, the Texas Constitution does not seemingly prohibit vouchers for private secular schools. But there are reasons why this also shouldn't happen, including conflicting data on whether voucher students are even better educated, why advocates key on “choice” or “freedom.” Bogus. Parents can already send their kids to private schools; they just can't make me pay for it.

In any case, will low-income families, the folks given as usual reason for vouchers, be able to make up the difference between “scholarship” amounts and private school tuition? Will these schools be able to refuse students? Public schools can't, by and large. And private by definition means not public. So, how will taxpayers know their dollars, laundered through tax credits, are effectively spent?

A better solution: reaffirming, with proper funding, the social contract to educate all students well.