In the News: What Monday’s SCOTUS Ruling in Trinity Lutheran Preschool Case Could Mean for School Vouchers

The Supreme Court will hand down its final rulings of the term today, notes The 74. Among the decisions should be the Trinity Lutheran case.

As Martin West has explained in Ed Next

Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauleyinvolves a Missouri church that was turned down by a state program that provides grants to nonprofits to resurface their playgrounds with rubber from recycled scrap tires. The state justified denying the benefits on language in its constitution stating that “no money shall be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion.”

The question now facing the court is whether such provisions, if used to exclude organizations from aid programs based solely on the organization’s religious status, violate the federal Constitution’s guarantee of free religious exercise. If so, voucher opponents will find it harder to argue that the religion clauses of state constitutions are a barrier to the creation of school voucher programs.

— Education Next

UPDATE: The opinion has been released and is available here.

Last Updated

NEWSLETTER

Notify Me When Education Next

Posts a Big Story

Business + Editorial Office

Program on Education Policy and Governance
Harvard Kennedy School
79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone (617) 496-5488
Fax (617) 496-4428
Email Education_Next@hks.harvard.edu

For subscription service to the printed journal
Phone (617) 496-5488
Email subscriptions@educationnext.org

Copyright © 2024 President & Fellows of Harvard College