842
O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment
Recognizing this distinction, the plurality nevertheless finds Witters and Zobrest—to the extent those decisions might permit the use of government aid for religious purposes—relevant in any case involving a neutral, per-capita-aid program. See ante, at 830-831. Like Justice Souter, I do not believe that we should treat a per-capita-aid program the same as the true private-choice programs considered in Witters and Zobrest. See post, at 902. First, when the government provides aid directly to the student beneficiary, that student can attend a religious school and yet retain control over whether the secular government aid will be applied toward the religious education. The fact that aid flows to the religious school and is used for the advancement of religion is therefore wholly dependent on the student's private decision. See Rosenberger, 515 U. S., at 848 (O'Connor, J., concurring) (discussing importance of private choice in Witters); Witters, 474 U. S., at 488 ("[T]he fact that aid goes to individuals means that the decision to support religious education is made by the individual, not by the State"); id., at 493 (O'Connor, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) ("The aid to religion at issue here is the result of petitioner's private choice"). It is for this reason that in Agostini we relied on Witters and Zobrest to reject the rule "that all government aid that directly assists the educational function of religious schools is invalid," 521 U. S., at 225, yet also rested our approval of New York City's Title I program in part on the lack of evidence of actual diversion, id., at 226-227.
Second, I believe the distinction between a per capita school aid program and a true private-choice program is significant for purposes of endorsement. See, e. g., Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U. S. 668, 692 (1984) (O'Connor, J., concurring). In terms of public perception, a government program of direct aid to religious schools based on the number of students attending each school differs meaningfully from the government distributing aid directly to individual students
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