To improve the human capital of inner-city children, he must support choice in education through tuition vouchers that can be used at private schools.

But the emphasis in spending would shift, she said, from maintaining and operating buildings to providing tuition vouchers.

Nor is it clear how much money a tuition voucher would be worth.

The Reagan Administration promoted a proposal for tuition vouchers, which parents could use at public, parochial or private schools of their choice.

In 2002, she voted with the 5-to-4 majority that upheld the use of publicly financed tuition vouchers at religious schools.

If each tuition voucher was worth $5,000 - a relatively low amount considering most private school tuitions - the program would serve 20,000 students.

Democratic delegates strongly opposed tuition vouchers for private or religious schools, by 86 percent to 10 percent.

He supported tuition vouchers, for example, that would allow parents to send their children to private schools at taxpayer expense.

It provides up to US$17 million in tuition vouchers to members of the class action suit.

Some 4,000 Cleveland children were to attend 56 private schools using tuition vouchers paid for by taxpayers.