美国国家公共电台 NPR--Supreme Court ruling on Maine's tuition program hands school-choice advocates a win

Supreme¹ Court ruling on Maine's tuition program hands school-choice advocates a win

Transcript²

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision ordering Maine to pay tuition for rural students at private religious schools has far-reaching consequences beyond the state.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK, Leila and I spent a little time yesterday morning watching Supreme Court rulings, along with thousands of other people. The court puts rulings on its website after 10 o'clock on certain days, and everybody's watching for big rulings to drop on everything from guns to abortion³. Those rulings did not come out yesterday, but others did, and one gave a victory to advocates of school choice. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reads this in.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁴: By a vote of 6 to 3, the court struck down a state funding system in Maine that was tailored to deal with a particular problem. Maine is the most rural state in the country, so rural that more than half of its school districts do not have a public high school. So the state pays tuition to other districts that do have high schools, as well as to nonsectarian private high schools. Now the Supreme Court has ruled that system is unconstitutional because it leaves out private religious schools. Writing for the court majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that when a state pays tuition to private schools but not religious schools, that amounts to discrimination against religion.

In dissent⁵, Justice Stephen Breyer said Maine justifiably⁶ seeks to avoid spending taxpayer⁷ funds to support what is essentially⁸ the teaching and practice of religion, and that need is reinforced by the fact that there are 100 different religions in the United States. Justice Sonia Sotomayor added that the court's decision continues the dismantling⁹ of the wall of separation between church and state.

The question now is where the court will stop. Some critics suggest the conservative supermajority is more theocratic¹⁰ than secular¹¹ and that it is ultimately aiming to require equal taxpayer funding for public and religious schools. Stanford law professor Michael McConnell calls that implausible, but he notes that in the aftermath of COVID-closed classrooms and months of Zoom¹² classes, more parents may be willing to try private schools.

MICHAEL MCCONNELL: Private schools, much more frequently, kept open and did their best to continue to serve the kids during this time. Also, parents got a window into the content of what was being taught, and sometimes they didn't like that. And I do think that this is a moment when the interest in alternatives to the public school system is especially high.

TOTENBERG: Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

6 justifiably   

adv.无可非议地

参考例句：

• There General Walters would come aboard to greet me, justifiably beaming with pride at his arrangement. 在那儿沃尔特斯将军会登上飞机来接我，理所当然为他们的安排感到洋洋得意。 来自辞典例句
• The Chinese seemed justifiably proud of their economic achievements. 中国人似乎为他们的经济成就感到自豪，这是无可非议的。 来自互联网

7 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

10 theocratic   

adj.神权的，神权政治的

参考例句：

• The priest caste wields considerable power in this rigidly theocratic society. 祭司阶层(priestcaste)在这个严格的神权社会中掌握着相当大的权力。 来自互联网
• The heartland of Islam, by contrast, is theocratic. 相反，伊斯兰教的核心地带则是神权政治。 来自互联网

11 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

12 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。