President Trump promoted Tuesday a Supreme Court ruling that overturned the state’s ban on taxpayer funding for religious schools, calling it a “historic victory” for school choice.
“Today’s SCOTUS ruling is a historic victory for families who want SCHOOL CHOICE NOW!” Trump tweeted. “#SchoolChoice is a civil rights issue, and no parent should have to send their child to a failing school. I will continue to fight for School Choice and will always defend Religious Liberty! ”
Earlier this month, Trump called school choice the “all-time civil rights issue in this country.”
Speaking to reporters announcing an executive order on law enforcement reform, Trump said: “We are fighting for the choice of the school, which really is civil rights. [issue] of all time in this country. Frankly, school choice is the civil rights declaration of the year, of the decade, and probably beyond. Because all children have to have access to a quality education. “
“The ZIP code of a child in the United States should never determine his future, and that is what was happening,” he continued. “All children deserve the same opportunity because we are all made equal by God.”
SUPREME COURT DOWNLOADS STATE PROHIBITION ON TAXPAYER FINANCING FOR RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS
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.
In Judgment 5-4, the court essentially upheld a Montana tax credit scholarship program that gave residents up to a $ 150 credit for donating to private scholarship organizations, helping students 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.
“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, “wrote Chief Justice John Roberts 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.”
TRUMP CALLS SCHOOL CHOICE THE CIVIL RIGHTS PROBLEM ‘OF ALL TIME IN THIS COUNTRY’
That decision, with which the state attorney general did not agree, was based on a “no help” clause in the state constitution, which prohibits the state from providing aid to “wholly or partially controlled” schools by any church, sect, or denomination. “
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.
Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have long called on Congress to approve a plan for the “Freedom of Education Scholarships,” which the White Houses said would give a million students the “freedom” to attend. the school of your choice.
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The program would offer a tax credit to individuals and businesses that donate to scholarship organizations that provide private school coupons to students.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer, Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
