NY Times by Erica L. Green 7/1/2020
A Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday against Montana’s exclusion of religious schools from a state scholarship program may have been drafted narrowly, but the victory for denominational education has breathed new life into far broader efforts to use public funding for private and parochial schools.
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the state of Montana could not use a provision in its Constitution to exclude religious schools from its private school scholarship program. While the court’s ruling did not go beyond addressing Montana’s constitutional provision, which prohibits the use of public funding for denominational institutions and purposes, voucher opponents and proponents agreed that the decision effectively rendered such amendments toothless.
The provisions, known as Blaine amendments, exist in 37 states and generally restrict government aid to religious institutions. The amendments were named for James G. Blaine, who in the 1800s sought legal mechanisms to deny religious schools public funding, a popular stance at a time rife with discrimination against Catholics.
More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/us/politics/private-religious-schools-supreme-court.html
