Just Treatment: The Lemon Test

Lemon vs. Kurtzman was a case in 1971 in which the Supreme Court of the United States of America decided that the salary paid to some school teachers in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania was unconstitutional. The teachers whose salaries were supplemented were all teaching in religion based private schools and were teaching secular subject. The Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968 allowed the teachers’ salaries to be reimbursed teaching secular subjects in nonpublic schools.

During this case, the Lemon Test was established. The details of the Lemon Test are as follows:

• The government’s action must have a secular legislative purpose;
• The government’s action must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion;
• The government’s action must not result in an “excessive government entanglement” with religion.

If any of the above mentioned criteria are violated then the act is deemed unconstitutional.

The Lemon Test requires teachers to teach same curriculum matter in all schools, private and public. No special curriculum will be made available for teachers of private catholic schools. It required all teachers to use the same materials provided in public schools.

The teachers of private school were not allowed to teach secular, religious subjects and should not be allowed any beneficial discrimination.

The Lemon Test was first introduced when in the Lemon vs. Kurtzman case it was found in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island the state money was being used for books, materials and salaries of teachers from religious private schools.

The Lemon Test was met with a lot of criticism as teachers from across the nation protested saying that the standard of teaching in public schools was different from the standard of teaching in private schools. Thus they demanded additional benefits. The Supreme Court dismissed these claims saying that irrespective of what school a teacher is teaching in, the qualification level required is the same and teachers of the same pay grade are all equally qualified.

Later however the Lemon Test was modified and the state money could be used for purchasing of books but not paying teachers additional salaries or maintenance/repair s of the private schools.

Teachers from religious catholic schools from the both Rhode Island and Pennsylvania protested saying that it was too much intervention in religious matters by the government and that it is unjust.

However the authorities said that they could intervene when the government’s money was being unjustly used.

These claims are however unjust as in the past decade the government has been providing a lot of aid to catholic schools and private schools to promote education in youngsters. The government has been providing books, computer, lab equipment, television and video recorders etc.

While the government has been providing aid to both private and public schools it is also monitoring strictly that the aid is not used in the name of religion. Schools are not a place where students are taught only religion and forced into it.

Public schools too have been getting aid from the government as a result of the Lemon Test.