Bigoted Blaine amendments go, but yeshivah funding needs work
Old-school discrimination: a 1930s era New York public school
Every generation has its controversial law or Supreme Court ruling that history judges to be unfair. From Dred Scott to Jim Crow and the Alien and Sedition Acts, these are cases that may be meaningless to the uninitiated but carry along a truckload of pain for its victims.
For the religious school community, so-called Blaine amendments enacted in 38 states have for 150 years served as the albatross around the neck of parents struggling to pay tuition. The laws, which a court once memorably termed as “born in bigotry,” prohibit public funding of religious schools. The legislation was originally enacted as a discriminatory measure against Catholics, and was later used to prevent any funding of religious education by states.
Striking down Blaine became a top priority for lobby groups who advocated for religious schools. And last week, the Supreme Court delivered it a mortal blow, deciding in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that when a state provides a benefit to a private school, it must provide the same benefit to a religious school. In other words, a state cannot discriminate against a private school just because it is a religious institution.
Create a free account to keep reading.
