An analysis of state aid to nonpublic elementary and secondary schools in the 50 states, 1970-1984
Public aid to nonpublic education is a stormy political, historical, and religious issue. Permissible and prohibited aid varies by state and by date. Research of four levels of law over the decade of the 1970s was compared with the same research for the 1960s. Sources included constitutions, statutes, and supreme court decisions for the 50 states, and United States Supreme Court decisions. Research results indicate the following changes over the 25 year period studied. In the 1960s decade, there were 51 state programs offering nonpublic school aid in seven different categories. The materials and services were provided by 28 states. In the period of the present research, there were 63 state programs offering nonpublic school aid in 20 different categories. The materials and services were provided by 23 states. Losses and gains over the 25 year period were as follows. There was a loss in the number of states offering aid in the categories of bus transportation, school health services, auxiliary services, guidance and counseling, and the purchase of secular services. Sixteen types of aid showed a gain in the 1970s. Gains were in the following categories: books, instructional materials, book substitutes, handicapped programs, special education, remedial instruction, dual enrollment, standardized tests and scoring, speech and hearing tests, speech and hearing therapy, supervisory and clerical personnel, record keeping, psychological tests, educational loans, tuition tax credits (vouchers, rebates), and old book donations. Five types of aid were provided by fewer states at the end of the present study, while 16 types of aid were offered by more states in the 1970s than in the 1960s. Analysis and trends should interest public and private school administrators, legislators, university academics, and legal scholars interested in this issue.
State aid, nonpublic schools, education, Educational Administration and Supervision, Education Economics
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