Everson v. Board of Education - Public And Private School Busing

Should parents be reimbursed for expenses incurred for busing their children to church schools? Opponents say that public funds used in this way is a clear violation of the separation of church and state because it forces the government to favor one religion over another. They contend that to allow this type of reimbursement opens the door for future entanglement between public funds and religious activities.

On the other hand, advocates say that reimbursement to families for private schools only indirectly supports church-run facilities and therefore falls outside the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. They argue that the costs actually promote the public welfare and contend that transportation costs are no different than those incurred by the state when it provides crossing guards to assist children going to church schools. Additionally, since the reimbusement would be for all types of religious education facilities, it would not be a matter of the government treating any one religious entity preferentially to another.