This newsletter consists primarily of a legal review of the Supreme Court decision in "Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind" (January 27, 1986), in which unusually clear guidelines are set forth for a constitutionally acceptable program of educational assistance that may include parents whose children attend religious schools. In "Witters," a unanimous Supreme Court relied on the three-part purpose-effect-entanglement test to contend that a Washington State program for vocational aid to the handicapped had a clearly secular purpose, regardless of whether recipients of that aid used it to attend a religious school. This case is reviewed in the context of "Mueller v. Allen" (1983), which upheld a Minnesota law allowing an income tax deduction for tuition, textbooks, and transportation expenses incurred in the education of all elementary and secondary school students--public, private, or private/religious. An emerging standard is outlined based on seven rationales provided by Justice Marshall for approving the Washington program in "Witters." The Supreme Court will not accept any attempts by states to directly support religious schools or teachers, but it will attend primarily to the actual purpose served by any legislative plan that directly or indirectly includes religious schools. It is concluded that these two cases provide strong judicial precedents for an educational policy that emphasizes the needs and rights of individuals (including parents and family), rather than institutions. A brief column, "Notes and News," is also included in the newsletter. (TE)