United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a plurality of the Court in "Mitchell v. Helms" in 2000, advanced the idea that state constitutional prohibitions against public funding of religious schools were manifestations of anti-Catholic bigotry in the late 19th century. Thomas's reading of history and law led him to believe…

This paper explores major historical changes in public school values from colonial times to the present and describes the ways such changes have affected private education. Emphasized are values based on religious premises, values that affect the religious beliefs of others, and the impact of both types of values on decisions to leave public…