All Kendra Espinoza wants to do is send her kids to Stillwater Christian School. But tuition payments are hard for the single mother who works two jobs.
In May 2015, Montana passed a school choice program that gives tax credits to donors who give to organizations that give scholarships to private schools. Espinoza hoped to use scholarships in the program to give her kids the Christian education she wants. All students between age five and 19 are eligible for the scholarships — but they aren’t allowed to use the scholarships at religious schools.
“I think every parent has that right to be able to say, ‘I want my kids to be able to go to this school or that school,'” Espinoza told ReasonTV. “I’m trying to input that values-based system into them. I want that foundation to be there from an early age.” Values aside, Espinoza also says the academics are more challenging at Stillwater.
Now, Espinoza has joined with the libertarian Institute for Justice to challenge the religious restriction on legal grounds. “This rule threatens to totally cripple the program,” says Erica Smith, one of the lawyers working on the case. “Because like in any state, most of the private schools in Montana are religious.” The restriction violates both the state and federal constitution, Smith says, because the documents protect the right to religious liberty and equal protection. “The government is not allowed to have a benefit program that excludes religious options.”
Governments don’t ban food stamps from being used on kosher or halal food. It’s not illegal to spend welfare money on Bibles or religious books. Federal Pell Grants aren’t banned from being used at religious universities. Why should K-12 scholarships be any different?
Besides, the donated money goes from a donor to an organization to the recipient. Montana’s government only incentivizes the donation with a tax credit. The statute also bans donations from being earmarked for particular schools. With most welfare programs, funds typically go directly from the government to the recipient, yet religious usage restrictions are not applied.
Today, 37 states have constitutional amendments that say government aid can’t go to sectarian schools, according to The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The amendments spread across the county in the late 19th century as a form of anti-Catholic bigotry. Nicknamed “Blaine Amendments,” they’re named after Congressman James Blaine, who proposed such an amendment to the federal Constitution in 1875 at a time of anti-Catholic public hysteria. The amendment passed the House, but failed by four votes in the Senate.
Despite the shameful, discriminatory motivations behind the Blaine amendments, they continue to be a thorn in the side of school choice supporters today. School choice programs in many states have been ruled unconstitutional because of a Blaine Amendment, and other states haven’t even tried to pass a school choice program because a Blaine Amendment ties their hands.
Until Blaine Amendments are gradually removed across the country, many families who seek to escape public schools for higher-quality private schools won’t have the chance. “I didn’t have a lot of opportunity when I was growing up,” Espinoza said. “I want to give that for my kids.”
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
