On January 22, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in an IJ case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue . At issue is a Montana school choice program that allowed families to send their children to private schools, including religious ones. The Montana Supreme Court said the program violated the state’s Blaine Amendment, a relic of 19th-century anti-Catholic hysteria that lives on today in 37 states constitutions, and struck the program down in 2018. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, will consider whether discriminating against religious options violates the First Amendment. On this podcast, we take a look at the history of Blaine Amendments, school choice, and one-size-fits-all schooling.

Guests

Dr. Ashley Rogers Berner, Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Charles Glenn, Boston University

Dr. Robbie Gross, Sidwell Friends

Dr. Joseph Viteritti, Hunter College

Kendra Espinoza, Lead Client

Erica Smith, Institute for Justice

Resources:

No One Way to School: Pluralism and American Public Education, by Ashley R. Berner

The American Model of State and School, by Charles L. Glenn

Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America, by Robert N. Gross

Choosing Equality: School Choice, the Constitution, and Civil Society, by Joseph P. Viteritti

12 Myths and Realities about Private Educational Choice Programs, edited by Tim Keller and David Hodges

Why Nineteenth Century Bans on “Sectarian” Aid are Facially Unconstitutional: New Evidence of Plain Meaning, by Robert G. Natelson

Muslim Educators in American Communities, by Charles L. Glenn

2018 US Cardus Education Survey: The Ties that Bind