Supreme Court rules for parents seeking state aid for religious schools

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its support for religious schools, ruling that parents who send their children to these institutions have a right to tuition aid if the state provides it to similar private schools.

The 6-3 decision in the Carson vs. Makin case from Maine could open the door to including religious schools among the charter schools that are privately run but publicly financed.

Previously the high court had said that giving public funds to church schools violated the First Amendment’s ban on an “establishment of religion.”

But over the last five years, the court’s conservative majority has flipped the equation and ruled it is