At the ACLU of Maine, we were having a hard time remembering how many bills the legislature considered last year that would have given taxpayer dollars to fund private religious schools. Was it 4? Was it 5? In any case, we all remember the results: every one of those bills was voted down by the legislature, with votes in opposition coming from all points on the political spectrum. Using public funds to pay for religious education goes against one of the core protections in the First Amendment--the government will not "establish" religion, which really means that the government will not promote religion, favor any particular religion, or endorse religion over non-religion.
Despite this principle--and despite the clear signal that the legislature sent last session that Maine would continue its longstanding practice of not publicly funding religious education--the legislature was AGAIN presented with a proposal this spring to remove this key brick from the wall of separation between church and state.
But today, the legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education voted by a large majority to reject this new proposal too. Maine (and all states) has an obligation to provide free public education to all our people. Money is tight, and the state does not have enough of it to pay for parochial schools too. If parents want to send their kids to religious schools, that is absolutely their right (a right we fight for too), but the government should not be involved in that decision.
Next week, the House and Senate will take up this bill. With the Education Committee's strong opposition, we hope that their decision will be an easy one.
