Lemon v. Kurtzman

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Opinion

 [*606]  [***752]  [**2108]    MR. CHIEF JUSTICE BURGER delivered the opinion of the Court.

These two appeals raise questions [****9]  as to Pennsylvania and Rhode Island statutes providing state aid to church-related elementary and secondary schools. Both statutes are challenged as violative of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

 ] Pennsylvania has adopted a statutory program that provides financial support to nonpublic elementary and  [*607]  secondary schools by way of reimbursement for the cost of teachers' salaries, textbooks, and instructional materials in specified secular subjects. Rhode Island has adopted a statute under which the State pays directly to teachers in nonpublic elementary schools a supplement of 15% of their annual salary. Under each statute state aid has been given to church-related educational institutions. We hold that both statutes are unconstitutional.

The Rhode Island Statute

The Rhode Island Salary Supplement Act ² was enacted in 1969. It rests on the legislative finding that the quality of education available in nonpublic elementary schools has been jeopardized by the rapidly rising salaries needed to attract competent and dedicated teachers. The Act authorizes state officials to supplement [****10]  the salaries of teachers of secular subjects in nonpublic elementary schools by paying directly to a teacher an amount not in excess of 15% of his current annual salary. As supplemented, however, a nonpublic school teacher's salary cannot exceed the maximum paid to teachers in the State's public schools, and the recipient must be certified by the state board of education in substantially the same manner as public school teachers.

In order to be eligible for the Rhode Island salary supplement, the recipient must teach in a nonpublic school at which  [**2109]  the average per-pupil expenditure on secular education is less than the average in the State's public schools during a specified period. Appellant State Commissioner of Education also requires eligible schools to submit financial data. If this information indicates  [***753]  a per-pupil expenditure in excess of the statutory limitation,  [*608]  the records of the school in question must be examined [****11]  in order to assess how much of the expenditure is attributable to secular education and how much to religious activity. ³

Full case includes Shepard's, Headnotes, Legal Analytics from Lex Machina, and more.