Supreme Court work-around on religious school tuition introduced in Senate

Guy Page

3 years ago

Makin decision prohibited excluding tuition payments to religious schools

By Guy Page and Timothy Page

The Vermont Senate has introduced its long-promised work-around of a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring towns with no high schools to provide tuition to approved, independent religious schools.

S66 would require school districts with no high schools to designate up to three schools to choose from – either public or an approved independent schools.

However, the bill also would dramatically redefine what constitutes an approved independent school. Without mentioning the religious nature (if any) of the school, the bill requires independent schools “eligible for designation” meet at least three of the four requirements:

The recognized independent school serves as a regional CTE center [tech school] as defined in section 1522 of this title.
The recognized independent school was established through the granting of a charter by the Vermont General Assembly.
The recognized independent school qualified as a public school under the definition of “public school” in effect on June 30, 1991.
The recognized independent school is designated under state law as an employer of teachers as defined by law covering the State Teachers’ Retirement System of Vermont.

The crafters of S66 appear to have identified the unique origins and hiring practices of religious schools (such as Rice Memorial High School, a Catholic parochial school in South Burlington) and written the new requirements accordingly – without explicitly mentioning religion or any conflict with LGBTQ-related hiring and curriculum that, among other issues, senators last year said they found objectionable about paying public tuition to these schools.

Most religious schools were founded because state schools were deemed incompatible with religious values and practices, and thus have no charter from the General Assembly. Also, most religious schools do not follow union-based hiring and compensation applying to public school teachers.

The sponsors are:

At present, school districts that lack their own high schools may now, at the parents’ request, tuition students to parochial and other religious schools. This recent development followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision of Carson V. Makin and a subsequent legal settlement with the State of Vermont, negotiated on behalf of parents by the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the tuition program was available to districts without a public high school, helping high schoolers to attend a private school – a secular one – of their choice. High school students in Maine fell under a similar program that was also excluding religious schools until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Makin that the state was unlawfully discriminating against them.

If S66 becomes law, it could face a legal challenge due to it being an attempted ‘workaround’ of the Makin decision prohibiting unlawful discrimination.

Senators last session repeatedly said they were frustrated in their efforts to find an acceptable legal solution to requiring tuition payments to parochial schools. They promised a bill would be introduced this year.

All bills introduced into the 2023-24 session to date. Current through February 7, 2023. For more information see http://www.legislature.vermont.gov

Bill #	Introduced	Title	Lead Sponsor	Sponsor party	Committee
S.66	2/7/2023	New requirements for tuition to independent schools	Hardy	Democrat	Education
S.65	2/7/2023	Insurance to cover epinephrine auto-injectors	Vyhovsky/ Lyons	Dem./ Prog.	Finance
S.64	2/7/2023	Regulates loud exhaust, idling, child restraints. Bike lanes required	White	Democrat	Transportation
S.63	2/7/2023	Medicaid cover three rounds of in-vitro fertilization	Hardy	Democrat	Finance
S.62	2/7/2023	Provides personal leave due domestic and sexual violence	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Economic Development
S.61	2/7/2023	Expands the income eligibility for Medicare Savings Programs	Cummings	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.60	2/7/2023	Authorizes municipal adoption of local option taxes	Chittenden/ Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Finance
S.59	2/3/2023	Replaces State-owned heating systems	Perchlik	Dem./ Prog.	Institutions
S.58	2/2/2023	Increasing the penalties for repeat drug trafficking	Sears	Democrat	Judiciary
S.57	2/2/2023	Allows towns and cities to regulate (but not prohibit) firearm use	Clarkson	Democrat	Government Operations
S.56	2/1/2023	Public preschool and other childcare, education changes	Lyons/ Hardy	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.55	2/1/2023	Allows public bodies to meet online	Clarkson	Democrat	Government Operations
S.54	2/1/2023	Maintains separation of insurance markets in VT Health Connect	Cummings	Democrat	Finance
S.53	2/1/2023	Creates a Vermont Climate Corps work program	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Economic Development
S.52	1/31/2023	Ensures State health insurance eligibility regardless immigration status	Hardy	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.51	1/31/2023	Amends authority to investigate claims of abuse of vulnerable adults	Lyons	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.50	1/31/2023	Protects patient access to, payment for health care	Cummings	Democrat	Finance
S.49	1/31/2023	Enhances genetic and consumer health information privacy	Lyons	Democrat	Economic Development
S.48	1/31/2023	Regulating sale of catalytic converters	Chittenden	Democrat	Economic Development
S.47	1/27/2023	Transport of individuals to psychiatric care	Lyons/ Sears	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.46	1/27/2023	Ensure rights to independent auto repair	Gulick	Democrat	Economic Development
S.45	1/27/2023	Establishes elective income tax on pass-through businesses	Chittenden	Dem./ Rep.	Finance
S.44	1/27/2023	Manufacturers pay for household hazardous products collection	Bray	Democrat	Natural Resources
S.43	1/26/2023	Legal representation in the child protection system	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Judiciary
S.42	1/26/2023	Prohibits State retirement systems from investing in fossil fuels	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Government Operations
S.41	1/26/2023	Eliminates life without parole	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Judiciary
S.40	1/26/2023	Regulates firearm usage, storage, and purchase	Clarkson/ Hardy	Democrat	Judiciary
S.39	1/26/2023	Legislators’ pay and benefits	Clarkson/ Hardy	Democrat	Government Operations
S.38	1/26/2023	Municipal planning permits	McCormack	Democrat	Natural Resources
S.37	1/25/2023	Access to abortion and gender-reassignment	Lyons/ Hardy/ Clarkson/ Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.36	1/25/2023	Permits arrest without a warrant	Sears/ Lyons	Democrat	Judiciary
S.35	1/25/2023	Hartford’s infrastructure financing	White	Democrat	Finance
S.34	1/25/2023	Kindergarten enrollment age	Chittenden	Democrat	Education
S.33	1/25/2023	Miscellaneous judiciary procedures	Sears	Democrat	Judiciary
S.32	1/25/2023	Ranked-choice voting for presidential primary elections	Ram Hinsdale/ Hardy	Democrat	Government Operations
S.31	1/24/2023	Open carry and self-defense with firearms	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Judiciary
S.30	1/24/2023	Sister State Program	Hardy	Democrat	Economic Development
S.29	1/24/2023	Military protection orders	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Judiciary
S.28	1/24/2023	Restrict litigation against abuse survivors	White	Democrat	Judiciary
S.27	1/24/2023	Reducing usage of cash bails	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Judiciary
S.26	1/20/2023	Removing residency requirement from assisted suicide	Lyons	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.25	1/20/2023	Banning certain harmful chemicals from cosmetic, health products	Lyons	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.24	1/19/2023	Implementing the Clean Fuels Program	White	Democrat	Natural Resources
S.23	1/19/2023	Prohibiting certain forms of discrimination	Hardy	Democrat	Economic Development
S.22	1/18/2023	Posting of land, hunting/ fishing	Perchlik	Dem./ Prog.	Natural Resources
S.21	1/18/2023	Safety zones	Perchlik	Dem./ Prog.	Natural Resources
S.20	1/18/2023	Basic Needs Budget and minimum wage calculation	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Economic Development
S.19	1/18/2023	Tobacco prohibitions	Ram Hinsdale/ Lyons	Democrat	Economic Development
S.18	1/18/2023	Flavored-tobacco ban	Lyons	Democrat	Economic Development
S.17	1/17/2023	Sheriff reforms	Sears/ Hardy	Democrat	Judicial
S.16	1/12/2023	Exceptions for clergy	Sears	Democrat	Judicial
S.15	1/12/2023	Presumptive probation	Sears	Democrat	Judicial
S.14	1/12/2023	Justice expendature reporting	Sears	Democrat	Judicial
S.13	1/11/2023	Referral of cases to community justice centers	Hashim	Democrat	Judicial
S.12	1/11/2023	Union elections	Ram Hinsdale	Democrat	Economic Development
S.11	1/10/2023	Persons prohibited from firearms	Baruth	Democrat	Judicial
S.10	1/10/2023	Water filling stations in schools	Chittenden	Democrat	Education
S.9	1/10/2023	State Auditor examining State contractor records	Bray	Democrat	Government Operations
S.8	1/6/2023	Counsel for the legally insane	Hashim	Democrat	Judiciary
S.7	1/6/2023	Public defender expanded access	Hashim	Democrat	Judiciary
S.6	1/6/2023	Police interrogation of juveniles	Sears	Democrat	Judiciary
S.5	1/6/2023	Affordable Heat Act mandate	Bray	Democrat	Natural Resources
S.4	1/6/2023	Violent crime reduction for juveniles through gun control	Sears	Democrat	Judiciary
S.3	1/6/2023	Prohibits paramilitary training camps	Baruth	Democrat	Judiciary
S.2	1/6/2023	Payment, case management for developmental disability services	Lyons	Democrat	Health & Welfare
S.1	1/6/2023	Act 250 and aircraft hangars	Sears	Democrat	Natural Resources

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