ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska lawmakers want to implement a private school voucher program, and are considering amending the state’s constitution to pave the way.

But legal experts are advising that changing the constitution to allow public money to flow to private institutions is unnecessary because most voucher programs give money to parents, who then spend it at the school of their choice, according to Nonprofit Quarterly.

That means the constitutional argument regarding the separation of church and state could possibly be avoided, as courts have allowed it to be in other states.

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“Dick Komer, a senior attorney at the Arlington, Virginia-based Institute for Justice, a conservative think tank, testified by telephone at a Senate Finance Committee meeting … that the constitutional amendment wasn’t even necessary, since nothing in the state constitution prohibits the state from giving money to parents to spend however they want,” the news site reports.

Of course the mere discussion of vouchers brought out several critics who attended the committee hearing. While all voucher opponents who spoke claimed no affiliation with Alaska’s teachers union – NEA-Alaska – they presented the typical union talking points against the idea.

“Public dollars should be used for public schools and should not be diverted to unaccountable private, sectarian and religious schools,” Fairbanks resident Chris Villano said, according to the news site.

“School choice is code for public funding of private schools … It will promote education as a private commodity rather than a public endeavor,” according to the NAACP’s Kevin McGee.

Fortunately, a public opinion poll shows 80 percent of Alaskans support the proposed constitutional amendment, meaning they don’t care whether tax dollars are sent to public, private, or other schools. Like most parents, Alaskans are primarily concerned with gaining access to the best education options for their children.

Nonprofit Quarterly points out that lawmakers in several other states, like Tennessee and Michigan. are also debating vouchers, and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander from Tennessee has introduced federal legislation to allow states to use federal aid for vouchers.

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Voucher programs already in place in states like Indiana and Wisconsin, meanwhile, are demonstrating there’s a huge public demand for better educational options.

Current momentum in the education world seems to be with pro-choice reform advocates, and hopefully Alaska will be the next state to inject much-needed choice and competition into what’s largely been a union monopoly on education for decades.