Church-Run Charter Schools? Supreme Court Argument Stirs the Discussion
Could a closely watched U.S. Supreme Court case clear the way for charter schools run by churches and other religious organizations?
Justice Stephen Breyer raised the question this week at arguments for Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, one of the most significant K-12 cases before the high court in years.
The debate over religious charter schools has been active in a small corner of the school choice advocacy world for years.
"Overriding all objections is America's woeful lack" of space in quality schools, the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's then-President Chester E. Finn, Jr. wrote in a 2003 Education Week commentary. "Every possible asset should be brought to bear on the creation of more. Religious charter schools deserve consideration."
Here's what you need to know about the discussion.
Religious Discrimination?
At the Supreme Court Wednesday, a group of parents joined by the Trump administration argued that the state of Montana commited unconstitutional discrimination against their personal religious views when it determined that a small tax credit for private school scholarship programs could not be used to fund scholarships to religious schools. In making that determination, the state's CONTINUE READING: Church-Run Charter Schools? Supreme Court Argument Stirs the Discussion - Politics K-12 - Education Week