State grants can be used at religious schools

By The Associated Press

06.17.02

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OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington Constitution's ban on using public money for religious schooling doesn't apply to a program that helps needy students attend private colleges, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The case deals with the state's Educational Opportunity Grant program, which currently gives annual grants of $2,500 so needy students who can't leave their communities can finish undergraduate degrees.

This year, 352 of the 971 students receiving the grants attend private schools, some of which have religious affiliations.

Mary Gallwey, a retired Washington State University professor, challenged the program, arguing it violates the state constitution's bans on religious influence in schools supported by public money and the use of public money to support a religious establishment.

But the court ruled June 13 in Gallwey v. Grimm that the prohibition applies to K-12 schools, not higher education, and noted that the grant program has restrictions that forbid students from using the money for religious instruction or degrees.

"The Supreme Court has upheld neutrally applied state educational aid that is significantly more invasive and linked with religion than the EOG program, which, as already noted, contains myriad easily administered religious safeguards," Justice Barbara Madsen wrote in the 6-3 decision.

The program prohibits the colleges that receive the money from requiring enrollment "in any program that includes religious worship, exercise or instruction."

"It really confirms that the independent colleges operate within the constitution," said Violet Boyer, president of the 10-member Washington Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which includes nearly all of the colleges affected by the case. "Students will still be able to chose the college that fits them."

The case attracted attention and legal briefs from groups on both sides of the debate over the division of church and state, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which helped Gallwey.

"Our state constitution has very strong provisions separating religion and government," said Doug Honig, an ACLU spokesman. "We believe that these provisions apply to colleges and universities, and we're disappointed that a majority of the court didn't see it that way."

The decision overturned a 1999 ruling from a lower court. The Thurston County judge who ruled in Gallwey's favor allowed the program to keep operating during the appeal.

The ruling affected three Catholic schools — St. Martin's College in Lacey, Seattle University and Gonzaga University in Spokane — along with Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma; Seattle Pacific University, a Methodist school; Whitworth College, a Presbyterian college in Spokane; Northwest College in Bellevue, which is affiliated with the Assemblies of God; and Heritage College in Toppenish.

The ACLU argued that some of the schools in question require mandatory religion courses and chapel attendance and that the state's money was going to further their religious missions.

Barbara Dunn, a spokeswoman for the Higher Education Coordinating Board, which administers the grant program, said its rules could allow schools to require some religion courses for graduation.

The program, enacted in 1990, provides a maximum of $2,500 in cash grants for juniors and seniors to use toward tuition, supplies, room and board or transportation.

It's open only to residents of Benton, Clark, Cowlitz, Franklin, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Walla Walla and Yakima counties, and was designed to help students in those areas — many of which don't have public four-year schools — finish their degrees.

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