Supreme Court to Consider Hearing School Choice Case on June 20
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider hearing the Montana School Choice case on Thursday, June 20, according to the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Virginia.
Attorney for the Institute of Justice Erica Smith provided a brief history of the case through a press release.
‘In May 2015, Montana enacted a scholarship program after the Legislature decided all parents—regardless of their income—should be able to select their children’s schools. The program provides a modest tax credit (up to $150 annually) to individuals and businesses who donate to private scholarship organizations. Those scholarship organizations can then use the donations to give scholarships to needy families who want to send their children to private schools.
But the Montana Department of Revenue enacted an administrative rule that prohibited scholarship recipients from using their scholarships at religious schools. Nearly 70 percent of Montana’s private schools are religiously affiliated and excluding them severely limited the choice of families.
In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court went even further, and ruled 5-2 that the entire scholarship program was unconstitutional under the Montana Constitution because of the inclusion of religious options. The court held that because families may choose to use the scholarships at religious schools, the program provided indirect payments to aid religious institutions, making the entire program unconstitutional under Article X, section 6 of the Montana Constitution. The Court refused to permit the private scholarship organizations to award scholarships to families choosing secular options, although the ruling leaves the Legislature free to re-enact a new program only for CONTINUE READING: Supreme Court to Consider Hearing School Choice Case on June 20
Big Education Ape: If The Supreme Court Hears This Case, It Could Change The Face Of Public Education - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-supreme-court-hears-this-case-it.html
