Major Victory for School Choice!

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down another important win for religious freedom and education choice for parents! In Carson v. Makin, a 6-3 Court struck down as unconstitutional a law in Maine that allowed the state to make tuition payments (equal to the amount paid for public schooling) to private high schools of parents’ choice, but which expressly excluded religious schools from being eligible.

The high Court held that “Maine’s ‘nonsectarian’ requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments violates the Free Exercise Clause” of the First Amendment. It also stressed that “[a] neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations through the independent choices of private benefit recipients does not offend the Establishment Clause.”

While the Court did not say anything new in terms of constitutional law, it strongly reaffirmed the principles of two recent opinions: Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer (2017) and Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020). As the Court stated: “Trinity Lutheran and Espinoza held that the Free Exercise Clause forbids discrimination on the basis of religious status.”

Today’s decision sends another strong signal that people of faith should not be treated as second class citizens. It also helps continue to pave the way for school choice options for parents across the country, including in Virginia. Programs like education savings accounts (ESA’s) and school voucher programs, where parents make the decision about where their child’s share of education tax dollars would best be spent, are now more legally and politically viable than ever.

The Family Foundation is currently working hard, alongside other coalition partners, to establish those policies in Virginia! We believe the Court’s opinion today gives some more wind in our sails, and we are excited and encouraged about what is yet to come.