US High Court Says Religious Schools Can Get Public Money
2022-06-22
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1The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state of Maine may not bar religious schools from a tuition assistance program.
2The case involved a rule of Maine's Department of Education.
3The rule permits families who live in areas that do not have public schools to receive public money to send their children to a public or private school of their choosing.
4That program, however, bars the money from going to religious schools.
5Families that want to send their children to religious schools say the law violates their religious rights.
6In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that the Maine program violates the Constitution's protections for religious freedoms.
7Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "The State pays tuition for certain students at private schools - so long as the schools are not religious. That is discrimination against religion."
8The court's three liberal justices disagreed with the majority decision.
9"This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote.
10The ruling is the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court that have favored religion-based discrimination claims.
11The court is separately looking at the case of a football coach who says he has a First Amendment right to pray at midfield immediately after games.
12The court's decision on Tuesday immediately affects Maine and Vermont, a neighboring state with a similar program.
13But the ruling could also fuel a renewed push for school choice programs in some of the states that have so far not directed public money to private, religious education.
14In the Maine case, two families wanted to send their children to Christian schools in Bangor and Waterville.
15The schools, Bangor Christian School and Temple Academy, have said in court records that they do not accept gay, lesbian or transgender students and teachers.
16At the time, Maine officials said that religious schools are excluded from the program "because the education they provide is not equivalent to" public education.
17The lawsuit was filed last year following a Supreme Court ruling saying that a Missouri program was wrong to deny money to a religious school for fixing a playground.
18That ruling opened the door for more cases aimed at changing rules about religious schools and public money.
19Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in a case from Montana that states do not have to permit public money to be used in private education.
20But they cannot keep religious schools out of such programs, once created.
21I'm Dan Novak.
1The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state of Maine may not bar religious schools from a tuition assistance program. 2The case involved a rule of Maine's Department of Education. The rule permits families who live in areas that do not have public schools to receive public money to send their children to a public or private school of their choosing. That program, however, bars the money from going to religious schools. 3Families that want to send their children to religious schools say the law violates their religious rights. 4In a 6-3 decision, the high court ruled that the Maine program violates the Constitution's protections for religious freedoms. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, "The State pays tuition for certain students at private schools - so long as the schools are not religious. That is discrimination against religion." 5The court's three liberal justices disagreed with the majority decision. "This Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote. 6The ruling is the latest in a line of decisions from the Supreme Court that have favored religion-based discrimination claims. The court is separately looking at the case of a football coach who says he has a First Amendment right to pray at midfield immediately after games. 7The court's decision on Tuesday immediately affects Maine and Vermont, a neighboring state with a similar program. But the ruling could also fuel a renewed push for school choice programs in some of the states that have so far not directed public money to private, religious education. 8In the Maine case, two families wanted to send their children to Christian schools in Bangor and Waterville. The schools, Bangor Christian School and Temple Academy, have said in court records that they do not accept gay, lesbian or transgender students and teachers. 9At the time, Maine officials said that religious schools are excluded from the program "because the education they provide is not equivalent to" public education. 10The lawsuit was filed last year following a Supreme Court ruling saying that a Missouri program was wrong to deny money to a religious school for fixing a playground. That ruling opened the door for more cases aimed at changing rules about religious schools and public money. 11Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in a case from Montana that states do not have to permit public money to be used in private education. But they cannot keep religious schools out of such programs, once created. 12I'm Dan Novak. 13Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. 14_____________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16tuition -n. money that is paid to a school to study there 17dismantle -v. to destroy something in an orderly way; to gradually cause something to come to an end 18equivalent -adj. having the same value, use or meaning 19file -v. to give a legal document to a court for consideration by legal officials