ABSTRACT
One program under attack in Grand Rapids provided public funds to pay the salaries of full-time public employees who taught secular subjects in classrooms located in and leased from religious schools. Lemon v. Kurtzman centered on the constitutionality of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania statutes that directly through supplements or indirectly through reimbursements to the school paid part of the salaries of teachers in religious schools who taught secular subjects. Among the graduates was Deborah Weisman, whose older sister's graduation had been opened with an invocation asking blessings of Jesus Christ. Assistance for examinations, recordkeeping and reports was struck down in Levitt v. Committee for Public Education. The problem for the schools lies in state regulation of their premises, hiring of and working conditions for their employees, certification of their teachers, and racial or gender discrimination against their would-be students and employees.
