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Opponents of school choice have twice challenged the constitutionality of the MPCP, first when it was enacted in 1990 and again when it was expanded in 1995 to include religious schools.
Each time, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the program. During the three-year legal challenge to the 1995 legislation, the Court delayed the participation of religious schools in the MPCP.
On June 10, 1998, the Court upheld the constitutionality of all aspects of the expanded MPCP. As reported in the June 11 edition of The New York Times, the court found that the program did not violate the First Amendment’s separation of church and state because the program “has a secular purpose” and “will not have the primary effect of advancing religion.” See the full Court Decision.
In November 1998, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Wisconsin decision, thus allowing the expanded program to continue.
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