Dive Brief:
- Two public school parents in New Mexico sued the state’s Public Education Department and several private schools in 2012, arguing the use of public dollars on textbooks for private schools violated the constitution, and now their case could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the case was decided against the parents, Cathy Moses and Paul Weinbaum, as was their first appeal, but the state supreme court ruled in their favor last November, prompting a pitch to the federal Supreme Court by the DC-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which defended the private schools in the case.
- At issue is more than $1 million in federal funds that the state distributes, and while the state supreme court ruled the New Mexico constitution prohibits money raised in taxes for public schools to go to religious institutions, the Becket Fund argues withholding the funds is a violation of the first and 14th amendments.
Dive Insight:
There has been a coordinated attack on the idea of “separation of church and state” in the last couple decades, with many advocates of religious education arguing the founding fathers never intended to create the separation. The courts have actually handed down multiple victories on this front, creating a precedent for allowing religion into schools using first amendment speech protections. In this case, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports the state has already stopped allowing private schools to access federal funds for textbooks, whether they are religious or secular.
Another case up for review by the Supreme Court relates to trans student bathroom use and gender identity protections under Title IX. The Supreme Court has not said definitively whether it will hear either case, and if it does not, the lower court ruling will stand.