Chapter 12: Catholic Schools and the Law

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1925 decision inPierce v.Society of Sisters is arguably the most important ruling in the history of Catholic and other non-public schools in America.Pierce involved a successful challenge to Oregon’s compulsory attendance law, which required parents or guardians of “normal” children to send them “to a public school for the period of time a public school shall be held during the current year”(Pierce, 1925, p. 530). In the suit, filed by the Society of Sisters and the Hill Military Academy, the Court unanimously affirmed that Oregon’s compulsory attendance law was unconstitutional because it “unreasonably interfere[d] with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control”(Pierce, pp. 534-535).