Friend,

The 2021 state legislative season is in full swing and a major threat to religious freedom is gaining momentum: private school voucher programs.

AU tracks religious freedom threats in state legislatures nationwide, and works strategically to protect church-state separation. Click here to support our state advocacy this year.

Critical Update on the 2021 State Legislative Session:

More than 60 private school voucher bills have been introduced in states across the country. They seek to funnel desperately needed funds away from public schools to private, mostly religious schools. This year, many of their proponents are using the COVID-19 pandemic and the Supreme Court’s dangerous decision in Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue as justification to enact these new programs.

Friend, even if your own state legislature is not considering private school voucher legislation right now, new voucher programs anywhere further embed this violation of church-state separation and religious freedom into our laws. AU is working hard to block these efforts wherever we can, but your support is crucial to our efforts.

Especially this week, which has been declared “National School Choice Week” by private school voucher proponents, we need to bolster our strength and show that AU is ready to protect public funds for public schools, as we have for decades.

Please click here to support our state advocacy in defense of public schools.

Private school voucher proponents are more emboldened this year. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Espinoza, voucher programs are now required to include private religious schools alongside secular schools.

Fortunately, the pro-voucher Trump administration failed to create new federally funded voucher programs. But in the states, their allies are pushing harder than ever to succeed where Donald Trump and his Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, could not.

To help our efforts to protect religious freedom in the states, click here.

I hope this update on the 2021 state legislative session was informative, friend. Thanks to our members’ support, AU is staying vigilant against these threats and advocating on your behalf to protect religious freedom for students, parents, and taxpayers.

Thank you for all that you do.

Maggie Garrett
VP of Public Policy