The US Supreme Court on Friday decided to hear a case brought by two Maine families who want to use a state tuition program to send their children to Christian schools.

Families who reside in Maine towns that do not have public schools are allowed to use the tuition assistance program to pay for a public or private nonsectarian school of a family’s choice. But the tuition assistance program does not permit taxpayer money to be used for religious education.

The two families are appealing a lower court’s ruling in favor of the state, holding that the tuition assistance program’s exclusion of religious schools is not in violation of the right to free exercise of religion.

The families want to use the tuition assistance program to send their children to private, nonprofit schools that seek to instill a “biblical worldview” in students. One, Bangor Christian School, may expel gay or transgender students, and the other, Temple Academy, potentially will not accept gay, transgender, or non-Christian students. Neither school hires gay teachers.

The Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, is representing the families. Michael Bindas, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, argued that “by singling out religion – and only religion – for exclusion from its tuition assistance program, Maine violates the U.S. Constitution.”

Maine Attorney General Aaron M. Frey asserted that Maine will defend the lawsuit, explaining that “parents are free to send their children to [religious] schools if they choose, but not with public dollars.” Frey additionally reasoned that the education religious schools “provide is not equivalent to a public education.”  

The Supreme Court’s ruling may potentially build on decisions in recent years permitting public funds to be used for religious institutions.