Vermont to pay tuition costs for religious private school students as part of legal settlement

Vermont has agreed to pay legal fees and tuition costs of multiple families who plan to use the funds to send their children to religious schools after initially prohibiting public tuition funding from going to students who attend religious schools.

The Green Mountain State has faced two lawsuits filed by several families and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington over how the state’s tuition assistance program prohibited parents from using the funds to pay enrollment costs for attending religious schools.

The Vermont Agency of Education and multiple school districts agreed to the legal settlement on Wednesday, with two lawsuits being dismissed in return.

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a prominent national legal nonprofit representing the plaintiffs, released a statement Thursday celebrating the settlement. The legal group, which has won several religious freedom cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, believes the settlement is a constitutional victory.

“All parents should be able to send their kids to schools that are the best fit for them, and the First Amendment protects parents’ right to choose religious schools,” said ADF Legal Counsel Paul Schmitt… (Excerpt from The Christian Post)