Justices skeptical of Maine’s public education program that blocks religious schools

Maine struggled Wednesday to defend its school funding system before the Supreme Court, with GOP-appointed justices casting a skeptical eye on the program, which pays for students to attend some private schools as long as their classrooms aren’t too religious.

The state says the money is meant to support a secular education in areas where there aren’t enough public schools to accommodate all the students. Parents can send children to private schools that offer a nonreligious curriculum at taxpayer expense.

Christopher Taub, Maine’s deputy attorney general, said that doesn’t exclude all religious schools but does block those that teach science, literature and other subjects with a religious bent…. (Excerpts from the Washington Times)