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22 Cath. Law. 329 (1976)
State Aid to Rhode Island's Private Schools: A Case Study of DiCenso v. Robinson

handle is hein.journals/cathl22 and id is 339 raw text is: STATE AID TO RHODE ISLAND'S PRIVATE SCHOOLS: A CASE STUDY OF DiCenso v. Robinson PATRICK T. CONLEY* FERNANDO CUNHA** In the January 1969 session of the Rhode Island General Assembly, House Majority Leader John Skefflngton of Woonsocket, freshman Repre- sentative Robert J. McKenna of Newport, and several other prominent Catholic legislators sponsored An Act Providing Salary Supplements to Non-Public School Teachers. The introduction of this measure precipi- tated a controversy in the land of Roger Williams over state aid to sectarian education that was ultimately resolved by the United States Supreme Court. Necessary to a full understanding of the issues involved in the salary supplement case is a brief description of the sociopolitical structure of Rhode Island. According to the 1970 census, the state had a population of nearly 950,000.' Of this number, approximately 600,000 were Roman Cath- olics according to estimates of the Diocese of Providence, a see coterminous with the state itself.' Because Catholics comprise sixty-two percent of Rhode Island's inhabitants, a proportion far larger than that of any other state in the union, the Catholic Church can and does exert considerable influence, both direct and indirect, on Rhode Island's educational and political affairs. The educational impact of the Church is more susceptible to measure- ment than is its political influence. In the area of elementary education, the domain with which this Article is concerned, the Catholic role is sub- stantial. In the peak academic year 1963-1964, parish-related grammar schools enrolled 38,455 pupils, or 28.3 percent of the elementary school population in Rhode Island. By 1969-1970, the year of the controversy discussed herein, enrollment in these schools was down to 29,340, or twenty * Professor of History and Constitutional Law, Providence College; M.A., Ph.D., University of Notre Dame; J.D., Suffolk University Law School. ** B.S.E.E., Southeastern Massachusetts University; J.D., Suffolk University Law School; Member, Rhode Island Bar. I This firgure is derived from U.S. DEP'T OF COMMERCE, BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, 1970 CENSUS OF POPUIATION, part 41, at 7 (1970). ' See DIOCESE OF PROVIDENCE, OFFICIAL CATHOLIC DIRECORy (1972).

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