In a big win for school choice advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that any state choosing to use public money to give scholarships for students to attend private schools cannot exclude religious schools. Writing for the majority in the 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts argued that “a state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.” The ruling came in a Montana case. After the state started a tax credit scholarship program, its Department of Revenue ruled that religious schools could not participate because of a state constitutional provision prohibiting tax money from being spent on religious purposes. The new high court declared that removing private religious schools violates their right under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. The ruling is not expected to have a significant impact on Florida, which is not one of the dozen or more states that block religious school choice programs.
