In a majority Protestant country, they and Catholics of other backgrounds were subjected to prejudice. As late as 1960, some Americans opposed Catholic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy on the grounds that, if elected, he would do the Pope's bidding. Kennedy confronted the issue directly, pledging to be an American president, and his election did much to lessen anti-Catholic prejudice in the United States. Although Catholics were never denied access to public schools or hospitals, beginning in the 19th century they built institutions of their own, which met accepted standards while observing the tenets of Catholic belief and morality. On the other hand, the Catholic Church does not require its members to go to church-run institutions.
Many Catholic students attend public schools and secular colleges.
But Catholic schools still educate many Catholic young people, as well as a growing number of non-Catholics, whose parents are attracted by the discipline and quality of instruction. Catholics have long recognized that the separation of church and state protects them, like members of other religions, in the exercise of their faith. But as the costs of maintaining a separate educational system mounted, Catholics began to question one application of that principle. Catholic parents reasoned that the taxes they pay support public schools, but they save the government money by sending their children to private schools, for which they also pay tuition. They sought a way in which they might obtain public funds to defray their educational expenses.