Dive Brief:

• New Mexico's Court of Appeals on Monday ruled in favor of a law requiring the state to provide private and religious schools with textbooks and other resources.
• The state's constitution bars taxpayer money from supporting "sectarian, denominational or private" schools, but the court said the law in question doesn't violate that clause because it was only meant to keep public schools from becoming sectarian and to keep the state in control of them.
• According to the court, textbooks are secular and requiring the state to provide them, along with other learning resources, to private and religious schools is in the best interest of students.

Dive Insight:

The Monday ruling upholds a previous decision in Santa Fe's district court. The law itself has been on the books for decades, but while the court argued that textbooks are secular, there have previously been examples of sectarian influence in learning materials in states like Texas. Even if this particular story isn't likely to end with this decision, it's likely more scenarios like it will continue to pop up.