Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
June 15, 1999, Tuesday ,City Edition
SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A8
LENGTH: 564 words
HEADLINE:
Justices to address states' high-tech aid to parochial schools
BYLINE: By Richard Carelli, Associated Press
BODY:
WASHINGTON - The Supreme
Court said yesterday it will decide whether computers and other instructional
materials paid for with taxpayer money can be used by religious schools, a case
one analyst called the most important church-state dispute to reach the court in
two decades.
The court's parochial-aid decision in a Louisiana case
could affect the national debate over school vouchers, financial help from the
government for families whose children attend religious and other private
schools. Expected sometime in 2000, the ruling also may determine the scope of
federal efforts to connect every American classroom to the Internet.
A
New Orleans-based federal appeals court struck down a federal program last year
by ruling that providing educational materials other than textbooks for
religiously affiliated elementary and secondary schools
violates the constitutionally required separation of government and religion.
The same program, which makes federal money available through local
school districts, was upheld by a San Francisco-based federal appeals court.
The Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and
State said the 14-year-old Louisiana case "is likely to be the most important
church-state lawsuit to come before the Supreme Court in over two decades." He
said it "forces the court to face squarely the question of direct taxpayer aid
for religious schools."
Lawyers for parents of children in religiously
affiliated schools in Louisiana said the case "involves the vital interests of
American schoolchildren in obtaining access to modern technological equipment
and materials.'
"Millions of students nationwide, including over a
million attending religiously affiliated schools, receive benefits under the
program," those lawyers told the court in the appeal granted review yesterday.
Overall, the federal government provides about 7 percent of the money
states spend on education. That percentage is significantly higher in poorer
states.
The federal program at issue is authorized by the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which gives
public schools money for special services and instructional equipment. Public
school districts are required to share the equipment in a "secular, neutral and
nonideological" way with students enrolled in private schools within their
boundaries.
More than 70 percent of the students who benefit attend
public schools, but many of the rest attend religiously affiliated schools.
The court also took these actions yesterday:
- Agreed to decide
whether people suspected of sexually assaulting children can be prosecuted under
a Texas law enacted after they allegedly committed the crimes. A man convicted
of assaulting his stepdaughter argues that applying the new law retroactively to
his case violates the Constitution.
- Allowed the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission to order other federal agencies to pay damages to
employees they discriminate against. The 5-4 ruling said the EEOC can require
agencies to pay compensatory damages, intended to reimburse for harm such as
emotional distress.
- Turned down an appeal by Operation Rescue founder
Randall Terry and other foes of abortion, who challenged nearly
$600,000 in fines and lawyer fees they were ordered to pay
following a campaign to block New York City-area abortion clinics a decade ago.
LOAD-DATE: June 15, 1999 
