SIDNEY — Local parochial school officials praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling concerning school funding.
The court, by a 7-2 vote, sided with Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri, which had sought a state grant to put a soft surface on its preschool playground.
The church had sought the grant under a state program that reimburses nonprofit organizations that install playground surfaces made from recycled tires. The Department of Natural Resources rejected the application because the state constitution prohibits the use of public money “in aid of any church, sect or denomination of religion.”
Leaders of Sidney’s Lehman and Holy Angels Catholic schools and Christian Academy Schools responded to the court’s decision by acknowledging that such funding is not a problem in Ohio.
“The 7-2 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, while an important decision for religious liberty in the U.S., doesn’t have a direct impact on Lehman High School, Holy Angels, or any other Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The reason is that religious schools have not been denied public funding in our state as in Missouri,” said Dan Andriacco, communications director of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. ““Wisely, Ohio has long understood that Catholic and other religious schools serve an important public purpose — educating citizens who contribute to the community — as well as a religious one. Accordingly, the state legislature has supported that public purpose with state aid.”
Christian Academy Superintendent Mary Smith quoted a statement by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), of which the Sidney school is a member.
“This ruling means that the government cannot discriminate against religious organizations and exclude them from receiving generally available public benefits simply because they are religious,” ACSI said. “It was refreshing to know that the Supreme Court grasps this important concept. All nonprofit and for-profit entities represent and support certain platforms and beliefs. Faith-based schools seek to be treated fairly and comparably to other organizations and entities in regards to federal support or funding.”
Nationally, proponents of school voucher programs have cheered the ruling. But opponents say it is far from an endorsement of the use of public money for religious schools. The court did not review the constitutionality of states’ Blaine amendments. Named for James G. Blaine, a 19th-century congressman, the amendments to 38 state constitutions prohibit the use of public funds to support private schools with ties to religions.
“The decision also marks a step in the right direction toward limiting the effects of the pernicious Blaine Amendments that are in place in many states around the country,” wrote Archbishop William E. Lori, of Baltimore, Maryland, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, in a statement Tuesday following the court’s decision. “… We are glad to see the Supreme Court move toward limiting these harmful provisions, which have restricted the freedom of faith-based organizations and people of faith to serve their communities,”
