U.S. Supreme Court examines religious school funding in major rights case – By Andrew Chung (Reuters) / Jan 22 2020
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Supreme Court justices are poised to tackle a major religious rights case on Wednesday over whether states can bar public funding of religious institutions in a dispute over a Montana tax credit program that could benefit private religious schools.
FILE PHOTO: The buliding of the U.S. Supreme Court is pictured in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 19, 2020. REUTERS/Will Dunham
The justices will hear about an hour of arguments in an appeal by three parents of students who attend a Christian school in Kalispell, Montana. They are challenging a lower court ruling that struck down the tax credit program as a violation of the state constitution’s ban on government aid to religious schools and churches.
The ruling in the case, expected by the end of June, could narrow the separation of church and state.
Churches and Christian groups in the United States have pushed for years to expand access to public dollars for religious schools and places of worship, testing the limits of secularism in the United States.
Much of the litigation has involved attempts to create vouchers or other subsidies for private religious schools in states like Montana whose constitutions explicitly ban such funding. Republican President Donald Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is a prominent supporter of such “school choice” plans. The plaintiffs in the Montana case are backed by Trump’s administration.
Critics of the programs have said they would siphon off scarce resources from public schools. These critics have said a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would require taxpayers to underwrite religious institutions – despite the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on government establishment of religion. They also said some of these religious institutions may discriminate against LGBT students or employees.
Continue to article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-religion/u-s-supreme-court-examines-religious-school-funding-in-major-rights-case-idUSKBN1ZL1CA
