Supreme Court upholds Vermont ruling

MONTPELIER, Vermont – Supreme Court says Vermont can’t subsidize religious school students. The nation’s highest court has again ruled that a state may help pay for students to attend private schools while denying the same aid to those who attend religious schools.

Without comment, the U.S. Supreme Court Dec. 13 turned down an appeal from Vermont in which parents of religious-school students argued that their children’s’ freedom of religion was violated by denying them the same financial aid given to children who attend secular private schools.

The Vermont Supreme Court had ruled that state tuition payments for children attending religious schools would violate the constitutionally required separation of church and state.

In early November, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a similar appeal from parents of religious-based pupils in Maine.