Does Vermont still believe in the separation of church and state? This is a question that the newly elected Legislature in Vermont must address.

In June 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court’s Carson v. Makin decision required states with voucher programs to offer them to religious schools as well as nonreligious schools. The Vermont Agency of Education complied with the decision and told school districts that they cannot withhold public tuition money from schools simply because of their religious affiliation.

In Vermont, however, there is a state constitutional provision called the Compelled Support Clause that prohibits the state from using public tax dollars to support religious worship or instruction that is “contrary to the dictates of conscience.” Chapter 1, Article 3 of the Vermont Constitution states, in part, “that no person ought to, or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any minister, contrary to the dictates of conscience.” Note that this is an individual right that is understood to mean that Vermont cannot force a taxpayer or citizen to subsidize religious programming or institutions against their will.

America’s founders understood the importance of protecting the freedom of conscience. James Madison called conscience “the most sacred of all property.”

Thomas Jefferson said that no “provision in our constitution ought to be dearer to man, than that which protects the rights of conscience against” the government.

This understanding shaped the First Amendment, which says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” These 26 words protect the freedom of conscience — the freedom to believe without coercion and to speak and act consistently with those beliefs.

Vermont’s Constitution reflects a dedication to religion and religious liberty. It also reflects a recognition that freedom of conscience — the freedom to engage in and support religious worship as dictated by one’s own mind, not by the government — is a necessary aspect of religious freedom. Freedom from compelled support for the religion of others is a central aspect of Vermonters’ religious freedom. To those who drafted the Vermont Constitution, freedom from compelled support for the religion of others was not in opposition to the free exercise of religion. It was freedom of religion.

Vermont’s tuition program is therefore in a difficult position. A district that declines to provide tuition money to a religious school may violate the U.S. Constitution under the Supreme Court’s decision. However, sending public dollars to that school could violate taxpayers’ “dictates of conscience” and thereby violate the Vermont Constitution.

Because of the Vermont Agency of Education’s directive, Vermont continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the framers of our Constitutions fought to build. We are now sending money to schools to support the teaching and practice of religion. These schools also have admission policies that allow them to deny enrollment based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and religion. Many of these schools have a history of discriminatory practices against our LGBTQ+ community of students and educators.

Vermonters should recognize the importance and indeed the privilege of having freedom of conscience. Our state was founded on this freedom. The framers of Vermont’s Constitution were willing to fight and die for this freedom and it is worth preserving today. The Vermont Agency of Education should not be allowed to take the freedom of conscience away from our citizens.

Conscience is our ability to discern right from wrong, good from evil. It also includes our ability to act on what is right. Therefore, conscience includes the ability to legislate and budget in the right way. In other words, we have the right to act on what we believe.

When asked, many Vermonters are strongly opposed to sending public money to religious schools in general, and they especially object to sending public money to schools that openly discriminate. They know that it is wrong, because it violates the dictates of their conscience.

The Vermont voucher program currently promotes segregation, discrimination and the misuse of public funds. It is also expensive. One of the reasons that Vermont’s property taxes are out of control is that Vermont now supports a public school system, a private school system and a religious school system.

Importantly, the holding in Carson v. Makin does not require that the state pay tuition to religious schools. States are allowed to fund only public schools.

However, if states choose to fund private schools, then they cannot exclude religious schools.

The Vermont Legislature needs to consider revisions to our state voucher program to get our property taxes under control and to address the obvious disregard for the Compelled Support Clause of our Constitution. When taxpayer dollars are used to support private and religious schools, we are publicly funding everything they do.

That is what causes the constitutional problems — the segregation and discrimination of students is contrary to the dictates of conscience for many of our citizens.

Please consider contacting your newly elected legislators and encourage them to support revising Vermont’s school voucher program. Vermont cannot afford to continue financing three school systems. Limiting the payment of public money to only public schools will do three things: it will decrease our property taxes; it will increase the quality of public education, and it will be consistent with our constitutional protections.

We all need to recognize that a good public education is the great equalizer in our democracy. Rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, those with disabilities and those without, everyone has the right to a free, inclusive, high quality, public education. People do indeed have the right to provide their children with a private school or religious school education. However, they do not have a right to have public money fund these alternatives. The Vermont Legislature needs to correct this.

G. Gregory Hughes is a former member of the Bethel School Board.