ABSTRACT
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." In many of the US Supreme Court's cases, such as Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District, 509 US 1 (1993), the justices have struggled with the application of this amendment in the context of governmental aid to religious or sectarian schools. The facts of this case, the Court concluded that the benefits provided under IDEA were generally available to any handicapped child, regardless of the school the child attended. The Court noted that the choice of school was dependent on the parents' choice and that the statute provided no financial incentive for a parent to choose a religious school. The case law regarding governmental aid to religious schools expanded on Zobrests premise–that the principles of neutrality and private choice would ensure that any incidental benefit to religion was not attributable to the national government.
