Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

The State of Ohio established the Pilot Project Scholarship Program to provide education choices to families with children residing in the Cleveland City School District. The program was enacted to help combat serious problems with Cleveland’s public schools. The program provided tuition aid for students in kindergarten through third grade, expanding each year through eighth grade, to attend a participating public or private school of their parents’ choosing. Additionally, the program provided tutorial aid for students who chose to remain enrolled in public school. The tuition aspect of the program permitted any private school, whether religious or nonreligious, to participate and accept program students. Private schools could not discriminate against students or foster unlawful behavior toward others on the basis of race, religion, or ethnicity. Program aid was assigned to students and families primarily on the basis of need. During the 1999–2000 school year, 82 percent of participating private schools were religiously affiliated. None of the public schools in Cleveland elected to participate. Simmons-Harris (plaintiff) and a group of Ohio taxpayers brought suit against Zelman (defendant), the state official responsible for administering the program, in federal district court on the grounds that the program violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The district court granted summary judgment to Simmons-Harris, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.