Maine
Constitutional Provisions on Education
Education Articles
“A general diffusion of the advantages of education being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people; to promote this important object, the Legislature are authorized, and it shall be their duty to require, the several towns to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the support and maintenance of public schools; and it shall further be their duty to encourage and suitably endow, from time to time, as the circumstances of the people may authorize, all academies, colleges and seminaries of learning within the State; provided, that no donation, grant or endowment shall at any time be made by the Legislature to any literary institution now established, or which may hereafter be established, unless, at the time of making such endowment, the Legislature of the State shall have the right to grant any further powers to alter, limit or restrain any of the powers vested in any such literary institution, as shall be judged necessary to promote the best interests thereof.” Maine Const. Art. VIII, Pt. 1, § 1.
“For the purpose of assisting the youth of Maine to achieve the required levels of learning and to develop their intellectual and mental capacities, the Legislature, by proper enactment, may authorize the credit of the State to be loaned to secure funds for loans to Maine students attending institutions of higher education, wherever situated, and to parents of these students. Funds shall be obtained by the issuance of state bonds, when authorized by the Governor, but the amount of bonds issued and outstanding shall not at one time exceed in the aggregate $4,000,000. Funds loaned shall be on such terms and conditions as the Legislature shall authorize.” Maine Const. Art. VIII, Pt. 1, § 2.
“The inhabitants of any municipality shall have the power to alter and amend their charters on all matters, not prohibited by Constitution or general law, which are local and municipal in character. The Legislature shall prescribe the procedure by which the municipality may so act.” Maine Const. Art. VIII, Pt. 2, § 1.
Case Law Relevant to School Choice
Eulitt v. Maine Department of Education, 386 F.3d 344 (1st Cir. 2004)
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that Maine’s law excluding parents who choose religious schools from the state’s “tuitioning” school choice system was still constitutional after Zelman.
Strout v. Commissioner, Maine Department of Education, 178 F.3d 57 (1st Cir. 1999)
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Maine’s law excluding parents who choose religious schools from the state’s “tuitioning” school choice system.
Anderson v. Town of Durham, 895 A.2d 944 (Me. 2006)
The Maine Supreme Court upheld Maine’s discriminatory tuitioning law as a valid exercise of state power, even though the original justification for that law—complying with the federal Establishment Clause—was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in Zelman.
Bagley v. Raymond School Department, 728 A.2d 127 (Me. 1999)
Prior to Zelman, the Maine Supreme Court held that denying tuition payments to parents in towns without a public high school who sent their children to religious schools did not violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and actually was required to avoid violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
School Committee of York v. York, 626 A.2d 935 (Me. 1993)
The Maine Supreme Court held that the Legislature does not have exclusive control over education; municipalities retain some authority over education policy.
Opinion of Justices, 261 A.2d 58 (Me. 1970)
The justices of the Maine Supreme Court opined that when the state buys secular educational services from religious schools, it subsidizes the schools in violation of the First Amendment and Maine’s education articles.
Questions on Constitutionality of School Choice in Maine?
Contact Leslie Hiner at 317-681-0745 or leslie@edchoice.org.
