The Joint Education Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature killed yesterday a bill which would have required municipalities in the state to reimburse parents for tuition paid to educate their children in private schools. Massachusetts has a substantial network of Catholic parochial schools and some Jewish religious day schools.
The action was in the form of an adverse report which kills the measure unless its supporters can obtain a majority vote to bring the measure up for consideration in the House where it originated. Senator: Mary C. Fonseca, chairman of the committee, said the adverse vote was unanimous but did not give any explanation for the negative vote.
James J. Fallon, Jr. petitioner for the bill. said in testimony before the committee that the measure might be unconstitutional. For that reason, he also filed a proposal to amend the state constitution to permit use of public funds to aid private schools. He sponsored a similar aid to private schools measure three years ago. It also was defeated in committee.
In testimony yesterday, he reiterated previous warnings that all private elementary schools would be compelled eventually to close down unless they received a proportionate share of tax funds paid by parents of children attending such schools. Dunbar Holmes, representing the Civil Liberties Union, warned that the measure would violate the traditional separation of church and state.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
