FOREWORD The primary purpose of this study is to present a State-by-State compilation of constitutional and statutory provisions which affect nonpublic elementary and secondary schools and the children who attend these schools. A similar study, The State and Nonpublic Schools, by Dr. Fred F. Beach and Dr. Robert F. Will, was published in 1958. The functional format used in the Beach and Will publication is generally followed in this report. However, a complete research of each State's constitution and education statutes was required, as the 1958 material is quite out-of-date. For this study each State was asked to provide copies of its constitution, education code, and relevant legislation enacted in the most recent legislative sessions. In instances where the State was unable to assist in this work, the research was conducted in the Law Library of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The completed compilations were submitted to the States' departments of education for their review and comment before being included in this report. In addition to the compilation of State provisions, this report contains five introductory chapters. The first three briefly describe the current status of nonpublic schools in this country, summarize the duties of the States in regulating nonpublic schools (using quotations from the Beach and Will publication), and describe the effects of Federal laws on State responsibilities to nonpublic schools and school children, including a brief summary of relevant Supreme Court decisions. In the final two chapters, the constitutional and statutory provisions included in the State-by-State compilation are analyzed and discussed. Tables similar to those devised by Beach and Will are presented in chapter IV to compare the States' constitutional provisions. A new table in chapter V lists by section the types of statutory provisions which regulate or aid nonpublic schools in each State. The goal of this report is to provide a general reference for study and comparison of current State laws which affect nonpublic elementary and secondary schools and school children. It is not intended as an authoritative legal source of reference. In addition to the State officials listed below, the Bascomb Associates staff is most grateful for assistance received from the Nonpublic Educational Service of the U.S. Office of Education. We gratefully acknowledge the support of various State officials who reviewed our material and offered comments and suggestions. However, final responsibility for the accuracy of the material selected and developed for this publication rests with Bascomb Associates. Mary Jo Livix, Deputy Associate Superintendent, for W.D. Shofstall, Superintendent of Education-Arizona Staff, Office of the Commissioner of Education-Connecticut Barbara A. Sizemore, Superintendent of Schools-District of Columbia |