Suit was filed last week in a Vermont federal district court challenging the manner in which the state administers its Town Tuition Program that provides tuition reimbursement for students from towns that do not have their own public high schools. Reimbursement is available for attendance at private or out-of-district public high schools. The complaint (full text) in Plaintiff E. W. v. French, (D VT, filed 2/24/2022), alleges that the state's current policy:
requires school districts to collect information on private religious schools' religious activity and to reduce or deny tuition benefits to account for religious schools' "religious worship" or "religious education."
The suit contends that this violates plaintiffs free exercise, free speech, Establishment Clause and due process rights, saying in part:
Defendants have no legitimate interest in enacting a greater separation of Church and State than is provided by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Town Tuition Program has been the subject of extensive prior litigation. (See prior posting.) ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
