The US Supreme Court just ruled in favor of religious freedom when it decided that a tuition program offered in the US state of Maine discriminated against Christians.
There are areas of Maine, where there are such low populations, that it was not feasible to build public schools. So the government set up a program decades back, where parents would receive a tuition benefit that allowed them to send their children to public or private schools.
This money could be used to pay tuition to out-of-state and even out-of-country schools, and could also help pay tuition at religious schools.
However, in the early 1980s, the government changed this policy and refused to provide the tuition benefit to parents whose children attended faith-based schools.
But Christians pay taxes too.
This meant the taxes of Christian parents helped pay the tuition of parents choosing to send their parents to secular schools, but they could not receive the same benefit if they wanted to send their children to a religious school.
Recently, with the help of the non-profit organizations, First Liberty Institute and Institute for Justice, three families located in the communities of Orrington, Glenburn, and Palermo challenged the state’s law and took their case to the Supreme Court.
In a 6 to 3, ruling, the Supreme Court stated that Maine was penalizing, the “free exercise of religion,” and ordered the state to allow the tuition benefit to apply to Faith-based schools.
READ: Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Parents’ Right to School Choice: ‘A Great Day for Religious Liberty in America’ AND Supreme Court strikes a blow for religious freedom in education
And with the recent trends in public schools, the demand for Christian schools and homeschooling is growing. READ: Christian Schools See Growing Enrollments as Public Schools Decline AND Homeschooling surge continues despite schools reopening
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