Supreme Court to review Arizona tax breaks for private school aid donations

High court to hear Arizona school case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says it will consider ending a lawsuit that challenges Arizona’s tax breaks for donations for private school scholarships.

The court on Monday said it will hear an appeal filed by the state and supporters of the 13-year-old program that provides dollar-for-dollar income tax breaks for donations to school tuition organizations.

Some Arizona taxpayers challenged the program as unconstitutional because religious organizations award most of the scholarships and require children to enroll in religious schools. The suit says the program amounts to an unconstitutional state endorsement of religion.

The federal appeals court in San Francisco last year ruled that the lawsuit could proceed.

In 2002, the Supreme Court upheld school voucher programs. Supporters of the Arizona aid program say it is no different from the Cleveland program upheld in 2002 because in both cases, government does not direct any money to religious schools.

The court will hear argument in the fall.

The cases are Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn, 09-987, and Garriott v. Winn, 09-991.