On Tuesday, the Supreme Court lifted the ban on taxpayer funding for religious schools, in a narrow but significant victory for the school choice movement.
In Judgment 5-4, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court essentially upheld a Montana tax credit scholarship program that gave residents a credit of up to $ 150 for donating to private scholarship organizations, helping students to pay for their choice of private schools. The state revenue department set a rule that prohibits those tax credit scholarships from going to religious schools before the state supreme court eliminates the entire program.
JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT MEETING ON A CASE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOICE
“A State does not need to subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious, “Roberts wrote in the court’s opinion.
Under the program, a family that receives a scholarship originally could use it at any “qualified education provider,” which in the court’s opinion means “any private school that meets certain accreditation, evaluation, and security requirements.” The Montana Department of Revenue, citing the state constitution, later changed the definition of “qualified education provider” to exclude those “owned or controlled in whole or in part by any church, religious sect, or denomination.” This was due to the objection of the state attorney general.
The parents of the children attending a private religious school filed a lawsuit, and a lower court ruled in their favor, holding that the tax credits did not violate the state constitution because they were not allocations made to religious institutions. The state supreme court overturned that decision and ordered that the entire program be scrapped.
RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT THE CFPB HEAD MAY BE DISMISSED FOR ANY REASON, IN BLOW TO THE AGENCY CREATED UNDER OBAMA
“I feel like we are being excluded simply because we are people of religious origin, or because our children want to go to a religious school,” Kendra Espinoza, one of the main plaintiffs in the case, said after the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments. in the case in January. “We are here to defend our rights as people of faith to have the same opportunities that a secular student would have.”
Roberts noted that the Montana scholarship program in no way violated the United States Constitution and noted that the Supreme Court “has repeatedly held that the Establishment Clause is not offended when observers and religious organizations benefit from the neutral programs of the government”. The chief justice noted that neither party to the case disputed this.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Tuesday’s ruling is a victory for advocates of school choice and some conservative religious groups who had questioned the provision in court. Montana’s program was similar to many in the U.S., and other states have proposed tax credit scholarship programs but failed to approve them due to confusion over their legality.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
