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Diocese of Sacramento |
Mitchell
v. Helms
Supreme Court Victory for Catholic Schools
Dale McDonale, PBVM, Ph.D.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Mitchell v. Helms upheld as constitutional Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This program requires local school districts to provide - on an equitable, per-student basis - secular, neutral and non-ideological services, materials, and equipment to all students, including those enrolled in religious and private schools. Title VI requires the local school districts to purchase and retain ownership of the equipment and materials, and private schools certify in writing that the resources will be used only for "secular, neutral, and nonideological purposes."
The court's decision should be hailed as a victory for equal educational opportunity and common sense.
NCEA, with 19 other national organizations, submitted a "friend of the court" brief advancing the premise that computers are the modern equivalent of textbooks. The Court had early decided that secular textbooks, approved by the public school district, are constitutionally allowable loan items for religious schools.
Title VI is available to all elementary and secondary schools and allocation of funds is based on a simple per capita count. Statutory language requires that religious- and private-school students receive amounts equal to that of their public school counterparts. The religious or private school does not receive the funds directly. The school requests goods and services that are ordered through the district office. The annual fiscal appropriation in the federal budget for Title VI programs last year was $380 million.
Every school principal should apply for all these benefits for their students. All principals should be aware of this program and contact their local school districts to ensure maximum participation for their school.
Dale McDonald, PBVM, Ph.D. is the director of Public Policy and Educational Research at NCEA (the National Catholic Educational Association).
"Partnership
between a Catholic school and the families of the students
must continue and be strengthened: not simply to be able to
deal with academic problems that may arise, but rather so
that the educational goals of the school can be achieved."
The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic
School, #42, The Congregation for Catholic Education,
Rome, 1988