SCOTUS Strikes Down Ban On Taxpayers Funding Religious Schools

The United States Supreme Court struck down a ban on taxpayer funding of religious schools Tuesday in a monumental win for school choice.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined conservative justices in a 5-4 ruling backing a Montana tax-credit scholarship program that gives residents credit if they donated to private scholarship organizations, according to Fox News, which would help the students pay for the private school of their choice.

The Montana revenue department had sought to prevent scholarships from going to religious schools, and the Montana Supreme Court had then struck down the whole program, the publication reported.

The ruling is a significant victory for those who support school choice, which allows parents to choose the public school their child will attend, rather than having their child assigned to a school based on where the family lives. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has focused many of her efforts on expanding school choice since she became the education secretary in 2017.

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden has come under fire for his opposition to school choice. Vice President Mike Pence has accused him of preventing black parents from obtaining the American dream by blocking them from picking where their kids go to school.

President Donald Trump said June 16 that school choice is the “civil rights statement of the year.”

“School choice is the civil rights statement of the year, of the decade and probably beyond,” Trump said at a White House press conference. “Because all children have to have access to a quality education. A child’s ZIP code in America should never determine their future.”