Meek v. Pittenger

Summary

The Court upheld Pennsylvania’s program lending secular textbooks directly to students in nonpublic schools, but held unconstitutional the provisions providing instructional materials and equipment directly to nonpublic schools and auxiliary educational services on nonpublic-school premises. The Court reasoned that the textbook program was materially equivalent to a general secular textbook-loan program, while the other programs advanced religion or required excessive administrative and political entanglement with religious schools. Separate opinions contested the invalidation of the auxiliary-services and instructional-materials programs, and Justice Brennan also would have invalidated the textbook program.