726
Breyer, J., dissenting
the Church and mankind, to the benefit of both, it retains even in our present circumstances the utmost importance").
III
I concede that the Establishment Clause currently permits States to channel various forms of assistance to religious schools, for example, transportation costs for students, computers, and secular texts. See Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing, 330 U. S. 1 (1947); Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U. S. 793 (2000). States now certify the nonsectarian educational content of religious school education. See, e. g., New Life Baptist Church Academy v. East Longmeadow, 885 F. 2d 940 (CA1 1989). Yet the consequence has not been great turmoil. But see, e. g., May, Charter School's Religious Tone; Operation of South Bay Academy Raises Church-State Questions, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 17, 2001, p. A1 (describing increased government supervision of charter schools after complaints that students were "studying Islam in class and praying with their teachers," and Muslim educators complaining of " 'post-Sept. 11 anti-Muslim sentiment' ").
School voucher programs differ, however, in both kind and degree from aid programs upheld in the past. They differ in kind because they direct financing to a core function of the church: the teaching of religious truths to young children. For that reason the constitutional demand for "separation" is of particular constitutional concern. See, e. g., Weisman, 505 U. S., at 592 ("heightened concerns" in context of primary education); Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578, 583- 584 (1987) ("Court has been particularly vigilant in monitoring compliance with the Establishment Clause in elementary and secondary schools").
Private schools that participate in Ohio's program, for example, recognize the importance of primary religious education, for they pronounce that their goals are to "communicate the gospel," "provide opportunities to . . . experience a faith community," "provide . . . for growth in prayer," and "pro-
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