American Constitutions and Religious Schools

Abstract

Contrary to what many Americans believe, “the separation of church and state” does not come from our federal Constitution, nor has the Supreme Court prohibited all government support for religious education. Rather, the Court has ruled favorably upon state mechanisms such as vouchers and tax credits where the enabling law reflects a secular purpose and a neutral framework; religious schooling results from private, not governmental, choice; and the program involves no governmental endorsement of religion (the “Lemon test”). Berner describes such Constitutional parameters with particular reference to Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002). She also describes the constraints that many state constitutions place upon religious school funding via the so-called Blaine Amendments, legacies of nineteenth century nativism and anti-Catholic bigotry.