BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rules Against Montana Ban on Funding Religious Schools
The Supreme Court just released a 5-4 decision in the case of Espinoza V. Montana that struck down a provision in the state constitution banning public funds to religious schools.
The decision seems to be narrowly tailored to say that if a state provides aid to private schools, it can’t bar aid to religious schools. I will post expert opinions on this as soon as they are available.
The many rightwing groups arguing on behalf of the plaintiffs (Espinoza) said that the ban was rooted in 19th century anti-Catholic bigotry (Blaine amendments), but Montana’s ban was enacted in 1972.
The decision will be celebrated by DeVos and other conservatives but it is not the knockout blow they were hoping for. If states don’t fund any private schools, they don’t have to fund religious schools. Conservatives were hoping to tear down Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state.” That didn’t happen.
The Los Angeles Times reported, in a story titled “Religious Schools Are Entitled to State Grants Given to Other Private Schools, Supreme Court Rules”:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states may not exclude religious schools from tuition grants that support other private schools.
The justices, by a 5-4 vote, decided that denying grants CONTINUE READING: BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rules Against Montana Ban on Funding Religious Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
The justices, by a 5-4 vote, decided that denying grants CONTINUE READING: BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court Rules Against Montana Ban on Funding Religious Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
