A sharply divided US Supreme Court favors tax credits for religious schools' scholarship donations.

The court's conservatives ruled 5-4 Tuesday against Montana's no-aid law on religious schools.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that "the provision also bars parents who wish to send their children to a religious school from those same benefits solely because of the religious character of the school."

The chief justice’s opinion casts doubt on provisions in as many as 30 state constitutions that bar aid to religious schools.

The ruling may benefit Northside Christian Academy in Lexington and other SC religious schools.

“A state need not subsidize private education,” Roberts wrote. “But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”

US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, a longtime private school choice advocate, called the decision “a historic victory for America’s students.”

“This decision represents a turning point in the sad and static history of American education.

"It will spark a new beginning of education that focuses first on students and their needs."