Maine Supreme Court Upholds Vouchers Limited To Non-Sectarian Schools

Maine's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the state's ban on the use of school tuition vouchers at religious schools. In Anderson v. Town of Durham, (April 26, 2006), the court, in a 6-1 decision, reaffirmed the conclusion it had reached in a 1999 case. It found that subsequent U.S. Supreme Court precedents hold that the State may be permitted to pass a statute authorizing some form of tuition payments to religious schools, but it is not compelled to do so. Today's Morning Sentinel reports that 17,000 students from 145 small towns with no high schools are covered by the voucher program. Towns may pay for those students to attend a non-sectarian public or a private school, but they may not pay for attendance at religious parochial schools.