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Began Operation 1873
| FAST FACTS |
- 13,959 students tuitioned in 2004-05
- 6,052 chose private schools
- 147 towns tuition students
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Many small towns in Maine do not operate local high schools, and some do not operate local elementary schools. Students in these towns are eligible for a voucher to attend public schools in other towns or non-religious private schools, even outside the state. The “sending” towns pay tuition directly to the “receiving” schools. While most towns allow parents to choose which schools will receive their students, some towns send all their students to one school. In 2003-04, 113 towns let parents decide where to send their children, while 33 towns contracted with one school.
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| Scholarship or Voucher Value: |
Public schools in Maine have a “tuition rate” that sending towns must pay when their students are tuitioned at public schools. For private schools, sending towns provide a voucher good for up to Maine’s average per-pupil cost for secondary education in the previous year, plus what is known as the Insured Value Factor, an additional payment intended to cover depreciation of private schools’ buildings. Parents may supplement this voucher with their own money. In 2004, the Maximum Allowable Tuition Rate was $7,567, of which $687.90 was the Insured Value Factor. Sending towns have the option of increasing the voucher to as high as 115 percent of the maximum rate, but may not reduce the voucher below that rate. |
| Student or School Participation: |
In 2004-05, 13,959 students were tuitioned. Of these, 7,907 (57 percent) were tuitioned at public schools and 6,052 (43 percent) at private schools. Of all tuitioned students, 11,263 (81 percent) are secondary students and 2,696 (19 percent) are elementary. Of all Maine private-school students, 38 percent are tuitioned. |
| Student Eligibility: |
Students must live in Maine and reside in an identified sending town that does not have a public school at their grade level. In 2004-05 a total of 58 sending towns tuitioned all their elementary and secondary students, 89 towns tuitioned only their secondary students. |
| Legal Status of Program: |
In 1981, the Maine legislature banned religious schools from participating in the program under the mistaken belief that allowing religious options violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. In 1997, Maine parents and the Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn this law as unconstitutional religious discrimination. In 1999, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the exclusion of religious schools. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review this decision. However, after the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of vouchers in Cleveland, the Institute for Justice and Maine families again asked a Maine court to overturn the 1981 law, but the exclusion of religious options was once again upheld. |
| Regulations on the Program: |
Participating schools must be non-religious and meet state standards for private schools. The eligibility of out-of-state schools is judged on a case-by-case basis. Private schools with large numbers of tuitioned students are required to administer the state test. |
| Research on Program: |
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| News on Program: |
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| Governing Statutes: |
Free High School Act of 1873, Sinclair Act of 1957
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