PARENTS REFLECT ON CASE TO BE REVIEWED BY U.S. SUPREME COURT
Kalispell parents Kendra Espinoza and Jeri Anderson and Bigfork parent Jaime Schaefer are the faces of a Montana case regarding religious schools and funding that will have its day in the United States Supreme Court.
What originated as a lawsuit in December 2015 (Espinoza versus the Montana Department of Revenue) now has school choice, separation of church and state, public and private school advocates across the nation weighing in and waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether or not invalidating a religiously neutral student-aid program violates the U.S. Constitution’s religion clauses or equal protection clause.
The parents’ involvement in the case dates back to 2015 when the Montana Legislature passed an unprecedented law providing a tax credit, up to $150, for donors supporting scholarships for private schools.
The children of Espinoza, Anderson and Schaefer receive scholarships to help cover the cost of tuition to attend Stillwater Christian School in Kalispell.
The lawsuit was filed not long after the Montana Department of Revenue issued an administrative rule restricting tax credit eligibility to donations for scholarships that supported non-religious, private schools only. Nearly 90 percent of the otherwise eligible private schools in Montana have a religious affiliation.
The state contended that allowing those tax credits to incentivize donations to religious schools would violate the Montana Constitution’s prohibitions on funding religious organizations.
In December 2018, the Montana Supreme Court reversed a Flathead District Court ruling in favor of the three parents and invalidated the entire tax-credit scholarship program.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would review the state court ruling.
About 7,000 to 8,000 cases are filed in the U.S. Supreme Court each term. The court reviews CONTINUE READING: Daily Inter Lake - Front Page Slider, Parents reflect on case to be reviewed by U.S. Supreme Court
Big Education Ape: If The Supreme Court Hears This Case, It Could Change The Face Of Public Education - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/06/if-supreme-court-hears-this-case-it.html