Opinion ID: 2058058
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: legal history

Text: [¶ 4] We extensively discussed the history and nature of section 2951(2) in Bagley, 1999 ME 60, ¶¶ 2-5, 728 A.2d at 130-31. Title 20-A authorizes the Department of Education and school districts to provide a public education in a variety of ways. A school district may build its own high school, or it may contract with another school district or private school that meets State school approval criteria for tuition purposes. 20-A M.R.S. § 2701 (2005). Parents in communities that do not have a public high school [2] may elect to send their children to a public high school or an approved private school. Id. Public funds are used to pay to the selected high school a set amount towards tuition costs that is based on an anticipated public high school tuition cost, set pursuant to 20-A M.R.S. §§ 5805, 5806, 5808 (2005). School approval criteria include either accreditation by the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, or compliance with State requirements including basic instruction in designated curriculum, [3] certification of teachers, length of school day, and student-teacher ratios. 20-A M.R.S. §§ 2901, 2902 (2005). [¶ 5] Before 1980, Maine's tuition statute permitted payment of public funds to approved sectarian schools for tuition payment purposes. In 1980, in response to an inquiry from a member of the Legislature, Maine's Attorney General issued an opinion stating that using public funds to pay tuition at private, religious schools violated the Establishment Clause. Op. Me. Att'y Gen. 80-2. The Legislature then enacted section 2951(2), which precluded sectarian schools from being approved for receipt of public tuition funds. P.L. 1981, ch. 693, § 5. [¶ 6] The tuition payment statute imposes a number of obligations on schools that receive public tuition funds. It states: § 2951. Approval for tuition purposes A private school may be approved for the receipt of public funds for tuition purposes only if it: 1. Basic approval. Meets the requirements for basic school approval under subchapter I; 2. Nonsectarian. Is a nonsectarian school in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution; 3. Incorporated. Is incorporated under the laws of the State of Maine or of the United States; 4. Repealed. Laws 1983, c. 859, § A, 8. 5. Additional requirements. Complies with the reporting and auditing requirements in sections 2952 and 2953 and the requirements adopted pursuant to section 2954; 6. Student assessment. Any school that enrolls 60% or more publicly funded students, as determined by the previous year's October and April average enrollment, shall participate in the statewide assessment program to measure and evaluate the academic achievements of students; and 7. Release of student records. Upon the request of a school unit, release copies of all student records for students transferring from the private school to the school unit. 20-A M.R.S. § 2951 (2005). [¶ 7] Bagley upheld section 2951(2) in the face of a First and Fourteenth Amendment challenge. [4] At that time, another group of parents brought suit in federal court challenging section 2951(2). The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit determined that section 2951(2) was constitutional in Strout v. Albanese, 178 F.3d 57, 66 (1st Cir.1999). [¶ 8] In Zelman, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an Ohio tuition voucher program that authorized the use of public funds to pay for a child's education at any approved school selected by the parents, including a religious school, determining that the particular program did not conflict with the Establishment Clause. 536 U.S. at 652-53, 122 S.Ct. 2460. [¶ 9] After the Supreme Court decided Zelman, a bill to repeal section 2951(2) was introduced in the Maine Legislature. L.D. 182 (121st Legis. 2003). The bill did not pass. Thereafter, the plaintiffs initiated this lawsuit to test the constitutional viability of section 2951(2) after Zelman. As before, a different group of parents brought suit in federal court, challenging section 2951(2) on similar grounds. The federal case culminated in a decision of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit holding that, even after Zelman, the Constitution does not require the State of Maine to fund tuition at sectarian schools. Eulitt v. State of Me., Dep't of Educ., 386 F.3d 344 (1st Cir.2004). Also, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court, in Locke v. Davey, 540 U.S. 712, 124 S.Ct. 1307, 158 L.Ed.2d 1 (2004), held that a publicly funded Washington State college scholarship program could, without violating the constitution, prohibit use of the funds for pursuit of a devotional theology degree. Id. at 725, 124 S.Ct. 1307.