Cite as: 530 U. S. 793 (2000)
O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment
is permissible under the Establishment Clause. See ante, at 832-834. Relying on the evidence underlying all but the last of the above claims, Justice Souter concludes that the Chapter 2 program, as applied in Jefferson Parish, violated the Establishment Clause. See post, at 902-910. I disagree with both the plurality and Justice Souter. The limited evidence amassed by respondents during 4 years of discovery (which began approximately 15 years ago) is at best de minimis and therefore insufficient to affect the constitutional inquiry.
The plurality and Justice Souter direct the primary thrust of their arguments at the alleged inadequacy of the program's safeguards. Respondents, the plurality, and Justice Souter all appear to proceed from the premise that, so long as actual diversion presents a constitutional problem, the government must have a failsafe mechanism capable of detecting any instance of diversion. We rejected that very assumption, however, in Agostini. There, we explained that because we had "abandoned the assumption that properly instructed public employees will fail to discharge their duties faithfully, we must also discard the assumption that pervasive monitoring of Title I teachers is required." 521 U. S., at 234 (emphasis in original). Because I believe that the Court should abandon the presumption adopted in Meek and Wolman respecting the use of instructional materials and equipment by religious school teachers, I see no constitutional need for pervasive monitoring under the Chapter 2 program.
The safeguards employed by the program are constitutionally sufficient. At the federal level, the statute limits aid to "secular, neutral, and nonideological services, materials, and equipment," 20 U. S. C. § 7372(a)(1); requires that the aid only supplement and not supplant funds from non-Federal sources, § 7371(b); and prohibits "any payment . . . for religious worship or instruction," § 8897. At the state level, the Louisiana Department of Education (the relevant SEA for
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