830
Opinion of Thomas, J.
of children in private schools "[t]o the extent consistent with the number of children in the school district of [an LEA] . . . who are enrolled in private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools." § 7372(a)(1). See App. to Pet. for Cert. 87a (District Court, recounting testimony of head of Louisiana's Chapter 2 program that LEA's are told that " 'for every dollar you spend for the public school student, you spend the same dollar for the non-public school student' "); §§ 7372(a)(1) and (b) (children in private schools must receive "equitable participation"). The allocation criteria therefore create no improper incentive. Chapter 2 does, by statute, deviate from a pure per capita basis for allocating aid to LEA's, increasing the per-pupil allocation based on the number of children within an LEA who are from poor families, reside in poor areas, or reside in rural areas. §§ 7312(a)-(b). But respondents have not contended, nor do we have any reason to think, that this deviation in the allocation to the LEA's leads to deviation in the allocation among schools within each LEA, see §§ 7372(a)-(b), and, even if it did, we would not presume that such a deviation created any incentive one way or the other with regard to religion.
Chapter 2 also satisfies the first Agostini criterion. The program makes a broad array of schools eligible for aid without regard to their religious affiliations or lack thereof. § 7372; see § 7353(a)(3). We therefore have no difficulty concluding that Chapter 2 is neutral with regard to religion. See Agostini, supra, at 225-226. Chapter 2 aid also, like the aid in Agostini, Zobrest, and Witters, reaches participating schools only "as a consequence of private decisionmaking." Agostini, supra, at 222. Private decisionmaking controls because of the per capita allocation scheme, and those decisions are independent because of the program's neutrality. See 521 U. S., at 226. It is the students and their parents— not the government—who, through their choice of school, determine who receives Chapter 2 funds. The aid follows the child.
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