Second, any benefit accruing to a religious institution must be the result of individual choices made by parents or children. And, third, funds must be appropriated on a religiously neutral basis and be made available to all whether they attend a public, private, or parochial school. The High Court has emphasized that parents who choose to have their children attend sectarian schools are entitled to the same rights and privileges as those who do not. In relaxing the Lemon standard, it has resolved that the state has no legitimate interest in compromising these individual rights and privileges to prevent religious institutions from enjoying an ancillary benefit from programs that advance them. As is evident in the Milwaukee and Cleveland cases, opponents of choice are now seeking to rest their arguments on provisions found within the state constitutions.
States vary greatly in their approach to the church-state question.
Some have revised their constitutions to adjust to more permissive federal criteria. Some have deliberately rejected the standards emerging from the Supreme Court, imposing aid restrictions that are much more limiting toward religious schools and the families who choose them. However, to the extent that these state provisions interfere with rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, such litigation will require a final hearing in the federal courts. In this sense the state suits represent a temporary legal detour rather than an insurmountable obstacle to school choice. Poor people are entitled to a quality education.