ABSTRACT
Along with upholding the right of Catholic schools to operate, Pierce established a key principle in the relationship between non-public schools and the state. In Pierce, the Court acknowledged the power of the state “reasonably to regulate all schools, to inspect, supervise, and examine them, their teachers and pupils” (p. 534). A myriad of subsequent opinions by federal and state courts have interpreted Pierce to mean that while individual States, and the federal government, may regulate non-public schools, they may not do so to any extent greater than they impose on public institutions. In fact, if anything, Catholic, and other non-public, schools have significant freedom from most forms of governmental oversight.
