Comments by justices of the United State Supreme Court Dec. 8 indicate likely support for parents of Maine high school students who want to use government funding to send their children to sectarian schools. During oral arguments before the court in the case Carson v. Makin , justices in the conservative majority expressed amazement that the state of Maine would exclude sectarian schools from its program to compensate for some school districts that do not offer secondary schools. Alan and Judy Gillis with their daughter at Bangor Christian Schools in Maine. The Gillises are one of three families that sued Maine over a program that bans families from a student-aid program if they choose to send their children to sectarian schools. (Photo by the Institute for Justice www.ij.org.) To offset this missing component, the state provides funding for students who attend high schools in other districts or at approved private schools — both in-state and out-of-state. To qualify as an approved school, Maine requires that an institution be “nonsectarian.” In the case now before the court, two sets of parents who sued the state specifically want to send their children to evangelical Christian schools that align with their preferred […]
