Around the states

Church & State, Jul/Aug 1999

Illinois Approves Private School Tax Credit

The Illinois state legislature has approved a tax credit bill designed to subsidize the cost of tuition at religious and other private schools.

The measure was promptly signed by Gov. George Ryan (R), an enthusiastic supporter of the plan who stood on the State House floor during the final vote to encourage passage.

The law allows a tax credit of up to $500 to parents with students in a religious or other private school. Opponents say the program will primarily benefit religion and is therefore unconstitutional.

Roman Catholic schools in Illinois have been lobbying aggressively for additional public assistance, suggesting that some schools may shut down without public aid. Cardinal Francis George and fellow representatives of the Chicago Archdiocese were present at the bill signing.

Americans United and other civil liberties and education groups are preparing a lawsuit to challenge the religious school subsidy.

N.Y. School Can Suspend Preaching Teacher, Says Court

A New York education board acted within the law when it suspended a teacher who insisted on including his personal religious viewpoint as part of his classroom instruction, a federal appeals court has held.

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously April 5 that the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) was right to suspend Dan Marchi, a special education instructor, after he refused to omit religious activities from his lessons.

In 1989, 12 years after starting his career as a special education teacher, Marchi became a born-again Christian and began praying with students, using the Bible in class and displaying religious posters on classroom walls. He repeatedly challenged school officials' orders to cease and desist.

In Marchi v. BOCES, the court ruled that BOCES could limit religious activity in the classroom in the interest of acting within the First Amendment. Attorneys representing Marchi have announced their intention to appeal the ruling.

Utahns Protest Mormon Main Street Rules

The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, has approved a plan to close a block of the city's Main Street and sell it to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The Council voted 5-2 April 13 to approve the $8.1 million purchase. The vote broke along religious lines, with Mormon members voting in favor of the transaction.

In addition to raising concerns about the cozy relationship between church and state, many local citizens are uneasy about the new restrictions that will be placed on visitors to the newly designated "private park." According to The Salt Lake Tribune, rules developed by the church allow church security guards to "evict pedestrians who assemble, picket, distribute literature, sunbathe, smoke, carry guns, play music, make speeches or engage in illegal, offensive, indecent, obscene, vulgar, lewd or disorderly speech, dress or conduct."

Making matters even more controversial, city and church attorneys later added provisions allowing the church to distribute Mormon literature, erect Mormon signs and broadcast Mormon music and speeches "without limitation."

When Tribune reporters later asked for records that would detail how the agreement for the sale was reached, both city attorneys and LDS Church lawyers refused.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah announced May 5 that it will be launching a legal challenge to the arrangement.