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Day Schools Support Supreme Court
Ruling on Religious School Tuition
Assistance O
Courtesy of Politz Hebrew Academy
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
n June 21, the Supreme Court
ruled 6-3 that states that use
taxpayer dollars to provide
tuition assistance to students attending
nonreligious private schools must also
use taxpayer dollars to provide assistance
to students attending religious private
schools. Th e decision was met with support
from Philadelphia day schools and Jewish
education advocates, but it has garnered
criticism from those worried about the
separation between church and state.

Th e case, Carson v. Makin, originated
in Maine, a rural state where over half
the school districts do not have a public
school option. As a result, the state relies
on public schools outside a student’s
school district or private schools to pro-
vide necessary education opportunities.

Th e ruling expands tuition assistance
to religious schools that are “biblically
based.” Majority opinion writer Chief
Justice John Roberts said that denying
tuition assistance to students looking to
attend private religious schools is “dis-
crimination against religion.”
“It removes any questions or potential
challenges anyone might have brought
against existing programs that support
Jewish schools and other religious schools
alongside other kinds of non-public
schools,” said Nathan Diament, exec-
utive director of the Orthodox Union
Advocacy Center, which oversees the
Teach Coalition and Teach PA projects
advocating for Jewish day schools.

Th e ruling is a reinforcement of the
belief that government neutrality on reli-
gion and religious institutions is a threat
to religious freedom, Diament said. He
believes it bolsters previous government
programs, such as the Nonprofi t Security
Grant Program, which the government
also provides to religious institutions.

But nonprofi t security grants and other
assistance programs, despite their prom-
inence in Jewish communities, haven’t
been met with unanimous support, said
Democratic Jewish Outreach Vice Chair
Politz Hebrew Academy Principal Besie Katz believes the Carson v. Makin
ruling has the ability to positively impact Jewish day schools.

Burt Siegel. Some Jews ideologically
oppose auxiliary services to religious
private schools, such as transportation
services, claiming it is a violation of the
First Amendment.

“More and more, we’re seeing a blur-
ring of the lines” between church and
state, Siegel said.

Th e Anti-Defamation League joined
an amicus brief on Carson v. Makin in
November stating that “the history of the
Free Exercise Clause refl ects it does not
require states to fund religious educa-
tion. To do so, would be an unwarranted
and substantial expansion of the Free
Exercise Clause contrary to the Court’s
existing precedent.”
While Siegel believes the ruling is
a slippery slope and that the current
Supreme Court is dictated by ideology,
Diament doesn’t see the ruling as a threat
to the First Amendment.

“What the Establishment Clause, in
particular, of the First Amendment was
intended to ensure is that there is no pref-
erence by the government or one religion
above all others,” Diament said.

In the case of Carson v. Makin, reli-
gious schools have equal opportunity
to take advantage of tuition assistance
programs, giving more opportunities for
religious freedom, Diament argues.

For area Jewish day schools, the ruling
is less of an ideological victory than a
practical one.

“Any generosity of spirit and money is
not only needed, but greatly appreciated,”
said Besie Katz, the principal of Politz
Hebrew Academy.

Katz hopes the ruling will not only
take the burden off of day schools and
parents looking to give their children a
Jewish education, but will also open the
door to more opportunities for fi nancial
assistance to religious private schools.

In the past, Politz wanted government
assistance to fund a sign language inter-
preter. Th e government would only pay
for the interpreter for their work in general
studies classes, but not religion classes.

But the Jewish Federation now pro-
vides assistance to Jewish schools, Siegel
argued, which can create a precedent for
ways the Jewish community can increase
fi nancial support for religious schools.

“Th e lack of fi nances shouldn’t prevent
a Jewish family from providing a day
school education,” he said.

However, he argued that the power to
provide tuition assistance should come
from within the Jewish community, not
from the government.

“It is a responsibility of our commu-
nity, really, to make Jewish day school
education aff ordable and available,”
Siegel said. JE
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