Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/105867/aguilar-vs-felton
Timestamp: 2020-01-24 18:16:44
Document Index: 118435286

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3805', '§ 3806', '§ 3804', '§ 3805', '§ 3807', '§ 2103', '§ 1252', '§ 1252', '§ 2740', '§ 200']

Aguilar Vs Felton - Citation 105867 - Court Judgment | LegalCrystal
Aguilar Vs. Felton - Court Judgment
LegalCrystal Citation legalcrystal.com/105867
Case Number 473 U.S. 402
Respondent Felton
aguilar v. felton - 473 u.s. 402 (1985) u.s. supreme court aguilar v. felton, 473 u.s. 402 (1985) aguilar v. felton no. 84-237 argued december 5, 1984 decided july 1, 1985 * 473 u.s. 402 appeal from the united states court of appeals for the second circuit syllabus new york city uses federal funds received under the title i program of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 to pay the salaries of public school employees who teach in parochial schools in the city. that program authorized federal financial assistance to local educational institutions to meet the needs of educationally deprived children from low-income families. the city makes the teacher assignments, and the teachers are supervised by.....
Aguilar v. Felton - 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
U.S. Supreme Court Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
Decided July 1, 1985 *
Held: The Title I program administered by New York City, which is similar in a number of respects to that held unconstitutional today in School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante p. 473 U. S. 373 , violates the Establishment Clause. Although the program here could be argued to be distinguishable from that in School District of Grand Rapids on the ground that New York City has adopted a system for monitoring the religious content of publicly funded Title I classes in the religious schools, the supervision would, at best assist, in preventing the Title I program from being used, intentionally or unwittingly, to inculcate the religious beliefs of the surrounding parochial school. And the program here would, in any event, inevitably result in the excessive entanglement of church and state. Even where state aid to parochial institutions does not have the primary effect of advancing religion, the provision of such aid may nevertheless violate the Establishment Clause owing to the interaction of church and state in the administration of that aid. Here, the scope
and duration of New York City's Title I program would require a permanent and pervasive state presence in the sectarian schools receiving aid. This pervasive monitoring infringes precisely those Establishment Clause values at the root of the prohibition of excessive entanglement. Moreover, personnel of the public and parochial school systems must work together in resolving various administrative matters and problems, and the program necessitates frequent contacts between the regular parochial school teachers and the remedial teachers. Pp. 473 U. S. 408 -414.
BRENNAN, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which MARSHALL, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and STEVENS, JJ., joined. POWELL, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 473 U. S. 414 . BURGER, C.J., post, p. 473 U. S. 419 , WHITE, J., ante, p. 473 U. S. 400 , and REHNQUIST, J., post, p. 473 U. S. 420 , filed dissenting opinions. O'CONNOR, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which REHNQUIST, J., joined as to Parts II and III, post, p. 473 U. S. 421 .
The City of New York uses federal funds to pay the salaries of public employees who teach in parochial schools. In this companion case to School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante, p. 473 U. S. 373 , we determine whether this practice violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The program at issue in this case, originally enacted as Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, [ Footnote 1 ] authorizes the Secretary of Education to distribute financial assistance to local educational institutions to meet the needs of educationally deprived children from low-income families. The funds are to be appropriated in accordance with programs proposed by local educational agencies and approved by state educational agencies. 20 U.S.C.
§ 3805(a). [ Footnote 2 ]
§ 3806(a). [ Footnote 3 ] The proposed programs must also meet the following statutory requirements: the children involved in the program must be educationally deprived, § 3804(a), [ Footnote 4 ] the children must reside in areas comprising a high concentration of low-income families, § 3805(b), [ Footnote 5 ] and the programs must supplement,
not supplant, programs that would exist absent funding under Title I. § 3807(b). [ Footnote 6 ]
In 1978, six taxpayers commenced this action in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging that the Title I program administered by the City of New York violates the Establishment Clause. These taxpayers, appellees in today's case, sought to enjoin the further distribution of funds to programs involving instruction on the premises of parochial schools. Initially the case was held for the outcome of National Coalition for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Harris, 489 F.Supp. 1248 (SDNY 1980) ( PEARL ), which involved an identical challenge to the Title I program. When the District Court in PEARL affirmed the constitutionality of the Title I program, ibid., and this Court dismissed the appeal for want of jurisdiction, 449 U.S. 808 (1980), the challenge of the present appellees was renewed. The District Court granted appellants' motion for summary judgment based upon the evidentiary record developed in PEARL.
"[t]he Establishment Clause, as it has been interpreted by the Supreme Court in Public Funds for Public Schools v. Marburger, 358 F.Supp. 29 (D. N.J.1973), aff'd, mem., 417 U.S. 961. . . (1974); Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 . . . (1975) (particularly Part V, pp. 421 U. S. 367 -72); and Wolman v. Walter, 433 U. S. 229 . . . (1977), constitutes an insurmountable barrier to the use of federal funds to send public school teachers and other professionals into religious schools to carry on instruction, remedial or otherwise, or to provide clinical and guidance services of the sort at issue here."
739 F.2d at 49-50. We postponed probable jurisdiction. 469 U.S. 878 (1984). We conclude that jurisdiction by appeal does not properly lie. [ Footnote 7 ] Treating the papers as a petition for a writ of certiorari, see 28 U.S.C. § 2103, we grant the petition, and now affirm the judgment below.
In School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante p. 473 U. S. 373 , the Court has today held unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause two remedial and enhancement programs operated by the Grand Rapids Public School District, in which
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U. S. 203 , 333 U. S. 212 (1948).
Id. at 403 U. S. 619 . Similarly, in Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 (1975), we invalidated a state program that offered, inter alia, guidance, testing, and remedial and therapeutic services performed by public employees on the premises of the parochial schools. Id. at 421 U. S. 352 -353. As in Lemon, we observed that, though a comprehensive system of supervision might conceivably prevent teachers from having the primary effect of advancing religion, such a system would inevitably lead to an unconstitutional administrative entanglement between church and state.
"The prophylactic contacts required to ensure that teachers play a strictly nonideological role, the Court held [in Lemon ], necessarily give rise to a constitutionally
intolerable degree of entanglement between church and state. Id. at 403 U. S. 619 . The same excessive entanglement would be required for Pennsylvania to be 'certain,' as it must be, that . . . personnel do not advance the religious mission of the church-related schools in which they serve. Public Funds for Public Schools v. Marburger, 358 F.Supp. 29, 40-41, aff'd, 417 U.S. 961."
421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 370 .
In Roemer v. Maryland Public Works Board, 426 U. S. 736 (1976), the Court sustained state programs of aid to religiously affiliated institutions of higher learning. The State allowed the grants to be used for any nonsectarian purpose. The Court upheld the grants on the ground that the institutions were not " pervasively sectarian,'" id. at 426 U. S. 758 -759, and therefore a system of supervision was unnecessary to ensure that the grants were not being used to effect a religious end. In so holding, the Court identified
Id. at 426 U. S. 765 . Similarly, in Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672 (1971), the Court upheld one-time grants to sectarian institutions because ongoing supervision was not required. See also Hunt v. McNair, 413 U. S. 734 (1973).
As the Court of Appeals recognized, the elementary and secondary schools here are far different from the colleges at issue in Roemer, Hunt, and Tilton. 739 F.2d. at 68-70. Unlike the colleges, which were found not to be "pervasively sectarian," many of the schools involved in this case are the same sectarian schools which had " as a substantial purpose the inculcation of religious values'" in Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U. S. 756 , 413 U. S. 768 (1973), quoting Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 350 F.Supp. 655, 663 (SDNY 1972). Moreover, our holding in Meek invalidating instructional services much like those at issue in this case rested
Meek, supra, at 421 U. S. 371 . The court below found that the schools involved in this case were "well within this characterization." 739 F.2d at 70. [ Footnote 8 ] Unlike the schools in Roemer, many of the schools here receive funds and report back to their affiliated church, require attendance at church religious exercises, begin the schoolday or class period with prayer, and grant preference in admission to members of the sponsoring denominations. 739 F.2d at 70. In addition, the Catholic schools at issue here, which constitute the vast majority of the aided schools, are under the general supervision and control of the local parish. Ibid.
The critical elements of the entanglement proscribed in Lemon and Meek are thus present in this case. First, as noted above, the aid is provided in a pervasively sectarian environment. Second, because assistance is provided in the form of teachers, ongoing inspection is required to ensure the absence of a religious message. Compare Lemon, supra, at 403 U. S. 619 , with Tilton, supra, at 403 U. S. 688 , and Roemer, supra, at 426 U. S. 765 . In short, the scope and duration of New York City's Title I
We have long recognized that underlying the Establishment Clause is "the objective . . . to prevent, as far as possible, the intrusion of either [church or state] into the precincts of the other." Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, at 403 U. S. 614 .
See also McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. at 333 U. S. 212 . Although "[s]eparation in this context cannot mean absence of all contact," Walz v. Tax Comm'n, 397 U. S. 664 , 397 U. S. 676 (1970), the detailed monitoring and close administrative contact required to maintain New York City's Title I program can only produce "a kind of continuing day-to-day relationship which the policy of neutrality seeks to minimize." Id. at 397 U. S. 674 . The numerous judgments that must be made by agents of the city concern matters that may be subtle and controversial, yet may be of deep religious significance to the controlling denominations. As government agents must make these judgments, the dangers of political divisiveness along religious lines increase. At the same time,
[For dissenting opinion of JUSTICE WHITE, see ante p. 473 U. S. 400 .]
In Wheeler v. Barrera, 417 U. S. 402 (1974), we addressed the question whether this provision requires the assignment of publicly employed teachers to provide instruction during regular school hours in parochial schools. We held that Title I mandated that private school students receive services comparable to, but not identical to, the Title I services received by public school students. Id. at 417 U. S. 420 -421. Therefore, the statute would permit, but not require, that on-site services be provided in the parochial schools. In reaching this conclusion as a matter of statutory interpretation, we explicitly noted that "we intimate no view as to the Establishment Clause effect of any particular program." Id. at 417 U. S. 426 . Wheeler thus provides no authority for the constitutionality of the program before us today.
The Court of Appeals held that the plan adopted and administered by the City of New York violates the Establishment Clause. 739 F.2d 48, 72 (1984). Appeals from this ruling were taken pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1252. An appeal under § 1252, however, may be taken only from an interlocutory or final judgment that has held an Act of Congress unconstitutional as applied (" i.e., that the section, by its own terms, infringed constitutional freedoms in the circumstances of that particular case") or as a whole. United States v. Christian Echoes National Ministry, Inc., 404 U. S. 561 , 404 U. S. 563 -565 (1972). Because the ruling appealed from is not such a judgment, the appeals must be dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Ibid.
As we have in comparable cases, we shall continue in this opinion to refer to the parties as appellants and appellees in order to minimize confusion. See, e.g., Kulko v. California Superior Court, 436 U. S. 84 , 436 U. S. 90 , n. 4 (1978).
739 F.2d at 70 (quoting Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602 , 403 U. S. 650 (1971) (opinion of BRENNAN, J.)).
I concur in the Court's opinions and judgments today in this case and in School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante p. 473 U. S. 373 , holding that the aid to parochial schools involved in those cases violates the Establishment Clause of the First
Mueller v. Allen, 463 U. S. 388 , 463 U. S. 401 -402 (1983) (quoting Wolman v. Walter, 433 U. S. 229 , 433 U. S. 262 (1977) (POWELL, J., concurring in part, concurring in judgment in part, and dissenting in part)).
433 U.S. at 433 U. S. 262 . Regrettably, however, the Title I and Grand Rapids programs do not survive the scrutiny required by our Establishment Clause cases.
I agree with the Court that, in this case, the Establishment Clause is violated because there is too great a risk of government entanglement in the administration of the religious schools; the same is true in Ball, ante p. 473 U. S. 373 . As beneficial as the Title I program appears to be in accomplishing its secular goal of supplementing the education of deprived children, its elaborate structure, the participation of public school teachers, and the government surveillance required to ensure that public funds are used for secular purposes inevitably present a serious risk of excessive entanglement. Our cases have noted that " [t]he State must be certain, given the Religion Clauses, that subsidized teachers do not inculcate religion.'" Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 , 421 U. S. 371 (1975) (emphasis added) (quoting Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403
This risk of entanglement is compounded by the additional risk of political divisiveness stemming from the aid to religion at issue here. I do not suggest that, at this point in our history, the Title I program or similar parochial aid plans could result in the establishment of a state religion. There likewise is small chance that these programs would result in significant religious or denominational control over our democratic processes. See Wolman v. Walter, supra, at 433 U. S. 263 (POWELL, J., concurring in part, concurring in judgment in part, and dissenting in part). Nonetheless, there remains a considerable risk of continuing political strife over the propriety of direct aid to religious schools and the proper allocation of limited governmental resources. As this Court has repeatedly recognized, there is a likelihood whenever direct governmental aid is extended to some groups that there will be competition and strife among them and others to gain, maintain, or increase the financial support of government. E.g., Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U. S. 756 , 413 U. S. 796 -797 (1973); Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, at 403 U. S. 623 . In States such as New York that have large and varied sectarian populations, one can be assured that politics will enter into any state decision to aid parochial schools. Public schools, as well as private schools, are under increasing financial pressure to meet real and perceived needs. Thus, any proposal to extend direct governmental
Walz v. Tax Comm'n, 397 U. S. 664 , 397 U. S. 694 (1970) (opinion of Harlan, J.). Although the Court's opinion does not discuss it at length, see ante at 473 U. S. 413 , the potential for such divisiveness is a strong additional reason for holding that the Title I and Grand Rapids programs are invalid on entanglement grounds.
The Title I program at issue in this case also would be invalid under the "effects" prong of the test adopted in Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra. * As has been discussed thoroughly in Ball, ante at 473 U. S. 392 -397, with respect to the Grand Rapids programs, the type of aid provided in New York by the Title I program amounts to a state subsidy of the parochial schools by relieving those schools of the duty to provide the remedial and supplemental education their children require. This is not the type of "indirect and incidental effect beneficial to [the] religious institutions" that we suggested in Nyquist would survive Establishment Clause scrutiny. 413 U.S. at 413 U. S. 775 . Rather, by directly assuming part of the parochial schools' education function, the effect of the Title I aid is "inevitably . . . to subsidize and advance the religious mission of [the] sectarian schools," id. at 413 U. S. 779 -780, even though the program provides that only secular subjects will
be taught. As in Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 (1975), the secular education these schools provide goes " hand in hand'" with the religious mission that is the reason for the schools' existence. 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 366 (quoting Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. at 403 U. S. 657 (opinion of BRENNAN, J.)). Because of the predominantly religious nature of the schools, the substantial aid provided by the Title I program "inescapably results in the direct and substantial advancement of religious activity." Meek v. Pittenger, supra, at 421 U. S. 366 .
I recognize the difficult dilemma in which governments are placed by the interaction of the "effects" and entanglement prongs of the Lemon test. Our decisions require governments extending aid to parochial schools to tread an extremely narrow line between being certain that the "principal or primary effect" of the aid is not to advance religion, Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra, at 403 U. S. 612 , and avoiding excessive entanglement. Nonetheless, the Court has never foreclosed the possibility that some types of aid to parochial schools could be valid under the Establishment Clause. Mueller v. Allen, 463 U.S. at 463 U. S. 393 . Our cases have upheld evenhanded secular assistance to both parochial and public school children in some areas. E.g., ibid. (tax deductions for educational expenses); Board of Education v. Allen, 392 U. S. 236 (1968) (provision of secular textbooks); Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U. S. 1 (1947) (reimbursements for bus fare to school). I do not read the Court's opinion as precluding these types of indirect aid to parochial schools. In the cases cited, the assistance programs made funds available equally to public and nonpublic schools without entanglement. The constitutional defect in the Title I program, as indicated above, is that it provides a direct financial subsidy to be administered in significant part by public school teachers within parochial schools -- resulting in both the advancement of religion and forbidden entanglement. If, for example, Congress could fashion a program of evenhanded financial assistance to both public and private schools that could
* Nothing that I say here should be construed as suggesting that a court inevitably must determine whether all three prongs of the Lemon test have been violated. See, e.g., Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U. S. 756 , 413 U. S. 794 (1973). I discuss an additional infirmity of the programs at issue in these cases only to emphasize why even a beneficial program may be invalid because of the way it is structured.
What is disconcerting about the result reached today is that, in the face of the human cost entailed by this decision, the Court does not even attempt to identify any threat to religious liberty posed by the operation of Title I. I share JUSTICE WHITE's concern that the Court's obsession with the criteria identified in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602 (1971), has led to results that are "contrary to the long-range interests of the country," ante at 473 U. S. 400 . As I wrote in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U. S. 38 , 472 U. S. 89 (1985) (dissenting opinion),
On the merits of this case, I dissent for the reasons stated in my separate opinion in Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 (1975). We have frequently recognized that some interaction between church and state is unavoidable, and that an attempt to eliminate all contact between the two would be both futile and undesirable. Justice Douglas, writing for the Court in Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U. S. 306 , 343 U. S. 312 (1952), stated:
I dissent for the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U. S. 38 , 472 U. S. 91 (1985). In this case, the Court takes advantage of the "Catch-22" paradox of its own creation, see Wallace, supra, at 472 U. S. 109 -110 (REHNQUIST, J.,
Today the Court affirms the holding of the Court of Appeals that public school teachers can offer remedial instruction to disadvantaged students who attend religious schools "only if such instruction . . . [is] afforded at a neutral site off the premises of the religious school." 739 F.2d 48, 64 (CA2 1984). This holding rests on the theory, enunciated in Part V of the Court's opinion in Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349 , 421 U. S. 367 -373 (1975), that public school teachers who set foot on parochial school premises are likely to bring religion into their classes, and that the supervision necessary to prevent religious teaching would unduly entangle church and state. Even if this theory were valid in the abstract, it cannot validly be applied to New York City's 19-year-old Title I program. The Court greatly exaggerates the degree of supervision necessary to prevent public school teachers from inculcating religion, and thereby demonstrates the flaws of a test that condemns benign cooperation between church and state. I would uphold Congress' efforts to afford remedial instruction to disadvantaged schoolchildren in both public and parochial schools.
test enunciated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602 , 403 U. S. 612 -613 (1971). To survive the Lemon test, a statute must have both a secular legislative purpose and a principal or primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion. Under Lemon and its progeny, direct state aid to parochial schools that has the purpose or effect of furthering the religious mission of the schools is unconstitutional. I agree with that principle. According to the Court, however, the New York City Title I program is defective not because of any improper purpose or effect, but rather because it fails the third part of the Lemon test: the Title I program allegedly fosters excessive government entanglement with religion. I disagree with the Court's analysis of entanglement, and I question the utility of entanglement as a separate Establishment Clause standard in most cases. Before discussing entanglement, however, it is worthwhile to explore the purpose and effect of the New York City Title I program in greater depth than does the majority opinion.
The purpose of Title I is to provide special educational assistance to disadvantaged children who would not otherwise receive it. Congress recognized that poor academic performance by disadvantaged children is part of the cycle of poverty. S.Rep. No. 146, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 4 (1965). Congress sought to break the cycle by providing classes in remedial reading, mathematics, and English to disadvantaged children in parochial as well as public schools, for public schools enjoy no monopoly on education in low-income areas. Wheeler v. Barrera, 417 U. S. 402 , 417 U. S. 405 -406 (1974). See 20 U.S.C. §§ 2740(a), 3806(a). Congress permitted remedial instruction by public school teachers on parochial school premises only if such instruction is "not normally provided by the nonpublic school" and would "contribute particularly to meeting the special educational needs of educationally deprived children." S.Rep. No. 146, supra, at 12. See 34 CFR § 200.73 (1984) (Department of Education regulations implementing Title I and precluding instruction on parochial
After reviewing the text of the statute and its legislative history, the District Court concluded that Title I serves a secular purpose of aiding needy children regardless of where they attend school. App. to Juris. Statement in No. 84-238, p. 56a, incorporating findings of the District Court in National Coalition for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Harris, 489 F.Supp. 1248, 1258 (SDNY 1980) ( PEARL ). The Court of Appeals did not dispute this finding, and no party in this Court contends that the purpose of the statute or of the New York City Title I program is to advance or endorse religion. Indeed, the record demonstrates that New York City public school teachers offer Title I classes on the premises of parochial schools solely because alternative means to reach the disadvantaged parochial school students -- such as instruction for parochial school students at the nearest public school, either after or during regular school hours -- were unsuccessful. PEARL, supra, at 1255. As the Court of Appeals acknowledged, New York City "could reasonably have regarded [Title I instruction on parochial school premises] as the most effective way to carry out the purposes of the Act." 739 F.2d at 49. Whether one looks to the face of the statute or to its implementation, the Title I program is undeniably animated by a legitimate secular purpose.
The Court's discussion of the effect of the New York City Title I program is even more perfunctory than its analysis of the program's purpose. The Court's opinion today in School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball, ante p. 473 U. S. 373 , which strikes down a Grand Rapids scheme that the Court asserts is very similar to the New York City program, identifies three ways in which public instruction on parochial school premises may have the impermissible effect of advancing religion. First,
Ante at 473 U. S. 397 . While addressing the effect of the Grand Rapids program at such length, the Court overlooks the effect of Title I in New York City.
PEARL, supra, at 1265. Indeed, in 19 years, there has never been a single incident in which a Title I instructor "subtly or overtly" attempted to "indoctrinate the students in particular religious tenets at public expense." Grand Rapids, ante at 473 U. S. 397 .
Common sense suggests a plausible explanation for this unblemished record. New York City's public Title I instructors are professional educators who can and do follow instructions not to inculcate religion in their classes. They are unlikely to be influenced by the sectarian nature of the parochial schools where they teach, not only because they are carefully supervised by public officials, but also because the vast majority of them visit several different schools each week, and are not of the same religion as their parochial students. * In light of the ample record, an objective observer of the implementation of the Title I program in New York City would hardly view it as endorsing the tenets of the participating parochial schools. To the contrary, the actual and perceived effect of the program is precisely the effect intended by Congress: impoverished schoolchildren are being helped to overcome learning deficits, improving their test scores, and receiving a significant boost in their struggle to obtain both a thorough education and the opportunities that flow from it.
Even if we were to assume that Title I remedial classes in New York City may have duplicated to some extent instruction parochial schools would have offered in the absence of Title I, the Court's delineation of this third type of effect proscribed by the Establishment Clause would be seriously flawed. Our Establishment Clause decisions have not barred remedial assistance to parochial school children, but rather remedial assistance on the premises of the parochial school. Under Wolman v. Walter, 433 U. S. 229 , 433 U. S. 244 -248 (1977), the New York City classes prohibited by the Court today would have survived Establishment Clause scrutiny if they had been offered in a neutral setting off the property of the private school. Yet it is difficult to understand why a remedial reading class offered on parochial school premises is any more likely to supplant the secular course offerings of the parochial school than the same class offered in a portable classroom next door to the school. Unless Wolman was wrongly decided, the defect in the Title I program cannot lie in the risk that it will supplant secular course offerings.
Recognizing the weakness of any claim of an improper purpose or effect, the Court today relies entirely on the entanglement prong of Lemon to invalidate the New York City Title I program. The Court holds that the occasional presence of peripatetic public school teachers on parochial school grounds threatens undue entanglement of church and state because (1) the remedial instruction is afforded in a pervasively sectarian environment; (2) ongoing supervision is required to assure that the public school teachers do not attempt to inculcate religion; (3) the administrative personnel of the parochial and public school systems must work together in resolving administrative and scheduling problems; and (4) the instruction is likely to result in political divisiveness over the propriety of direct aid. Ante at 473 U. S. 412 -414; ante at 473 U. S. 415 -416 (concurring opinion of POWELL, J.).
This analysis of entanglement, I acknowledge, finds support in some of this Court's precedents. In Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U.S. at 421 U. S. 369 , the Court asserted that it could not rely
Because "a teacher remains a teacher," the Court stated, there remains a risk that teachers will intertwine religious doctrine with secular instruction. The continuing state surveillance necessary to prevent this from occurring would produce undue entanglement of church and state. Id. at 421 U. S. 370 -372. The Court's opinion in Meek further asserted that public instruction on parochial school premises creates a serious risk of divisive political conflict over the issue of aid to religion. Ibid. Meek's analysis of entanglement was reaffirmed in Wolman two Terms later.
certain that public school teachers do not inculcate religion. Ante at 473 U. S. 415 . That reasoning would require us to close our public schools, for there is always some chance that a public school teacher will bring religion into the classroom, regardless of its location. See Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. at 472 U. S. 44 -45, n. 23. Even if I remained confident of the usefulness of entanglement as an Establishment Clause test, I would conclude that New York City's efforts to prevent religious indoctrination in Title I classes have been adequate, and have not caused excessive institutional entanglement of church and state.
The Court's reliance on the potential for political divisiveness as evidence of undue entanglement is also unpersuasive. There is little record support for the proposition that New York City's admirable Title I program has ignited any controversy other than this litigation. In Mueller v. Allen, 463 U. S. 388 , 463 U. S. 403 -404, n. 11 (1983), the Court cautioned that the "elusive inquiry" into political divisiveness should be confined to a narrow category of parochial aid cases. The concurring opinion in Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U. S. 668 , 465 U. S. 687 (1984), went further, suggesting that Establishment Clause analysis should focus solely on the character of the government activity that might cause political divisiveness, and that "the entanglement prong of the Lemon test is properly limited to institutional entanglement."
Jaffree, supra, at 472 U. S. 109 -110. For example, we permit a State to pay for bus transportation to a parochial school, Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U. S. 1 (1947), but preclude States from providing buses for parochial school field trips, on the theory such trips involve excessive state supervision of the parochial officials who lead them. Wolman, 433 U.S. at 433 U. S. 254 . To a great extent, the anomalous results in our Establishment Clause cases are "attributable to [the] entanglement' prong." Choper, The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment: Reconciling the Conflict, 41 U.Pitt.L.Rev. 673, 681 (1980).