3/16/04 -- In a victory for public education advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Feb. 25 that states can deny publicly funded university scholarships to students pursuing a religious education.
The 7-2 decision in Locke v. Davey upheld the eligibility requirements of a university scholarship program funded by Washington state. The state's constitution prohibits the use of public money to support "any religious worship, exercise, or instruction."
The case was closely watched for its implications to the school voucher debate. Two years ago, the Supreme Court ruled it was constitutional for the Cleveland school voucher program to provide public money for students to attend private, religious schools.
In this case, however, the Court ruled that nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires taxpayers to grant sectarian education access to public funds. The Court said a state is free to set a stricter separation of church and state.
The ruling was a setback to voucher advocates, who'd hoped the Supreme Court would expand upon its earlier ruling and make it easier for institutions with religious affiliations to gain access to government aid. Instead, the Court upheld the constitutional prohibitions that exist in 35 states.
"This is another victory in the battle against vouchers," says NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant. "It encourages public education to continue to resist voucher initiatives that, in the name of 'choice' and 'religious neutrality,' threaten to deprive public school children of precious resources."
The decision ends a nearly five-year legal battle by Joshua Davey, who in 1999 was a student pursuing a double major in pastoral ministries and business administration at Northwest College. Although eligible for a state scholarship, he learned he could not have the funds to study for a theology degree.
Davey filed suit on the grounds the state was violating his right to freely exercise his religious beliefs. He lost in federal district court -- but won a favorable ruling in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The state appealed to the Supreme Court.
NSBA, joined by the Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia school boards associations and other organizations filed an amicus curiae brief urging the high court to uphold the Washington Constitution. "NSBA argued the Court has ruled repeatedly that a government's decision not to subsidize constitutionally protected rights does not infringe upon those rights," says NSBA General Counsel Julie Underwood.
In the court's majority opinion, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist agreed, stating that there is "play in the joints" between the constitutional issues of free exercise of religion and the separation of church and state.
"Since the founding of our country, there have been popular uprisings against procuring taxpayer funds to support church leaders, which was one of the hallmarks of 'established religions,'" Rehnquist wrote. "The state's interest in not funding the pursuit of devotional degrees is substantial, and the exclusion of such funding places a relatively minor burden" on scholarship winners.
For local school boards, Underwood says, the decision means that voucher proponents confront a serious legal obstacle to their efforts to expand voucher programs across the nation. She says the decision "underscores the more than 200-year tradition in the nation to not fund religious institutions through public funds."