Court suggests religious schools OK to get Maine tuition aid

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears ready to rule that religious schools can’t be excluded from a Maine program that offers tuition aid for private education. The court’s six conservative justices seemed largely unpersuaded, after nearly two hours in the courtroom Wednesday, by Maine’s position that the state is willing to pay for the rough equivalent of a public education, but not religious inculcation. The court’s three liberal justices signaled they were more aligned with the state’s arguments. The case is the latest test of religious freedoms for a Supreme Court that has favored faith-based discrimination claims.