Project 21 Decries Blaine Amendments as Bigoted for Denying Families Best Educational Options
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
Black Activists Push for School Choice at Supreme Court
** Project 21 Decries Blaine Amendments as Bigoted for Denying Families Best Educational Options
------------------------------------------------------------
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today about whether parents should be empowered with the ability to use government-assisted scholarships to enroll their children in religious schools. Members of the Project 21 black leadership network ([link removed]) have joined a legal brief advising the justices that current laws blocking parents from doing so prevent them from making the best choices for their children’s education.
The case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue ([link removed]) focuses on “Blaine Amendments ([link removed]) ” that are found in 37 state constitutions nationwide. Vestiges of anti-Catholic bigotry during the post-Civil War era, Blaine Amendments are now used to block school choice initiatives because they prohibit public support of “sectarian” schools.
Project 21 joined an amici curiae (or “friends of the court”) legal brief ([link removed]) , arguing that the Court has steadfastly upheld a Due Process Clause right for parents to make educational choices for their children and that this “highly individual process” - if successful - “improves the education of all students.” It added that, for low-income families, there is also an “unfortunate but real connection between the price tag of a house and the quality of education a child receives” through the public education system.
“Every child in this country should receive an excellent education - not an average or mediocre one. Removing Blaine Amendments will allow American children to access not only an excellent education, but an education that parents deem appropriate for their children and themselves,” said Project 21 member Marie Fischer ([link removed]) . “Not only do we need to remove Blaine Amendments and guarantee freedom of choice when it comes to education, but we also need to protect freedom of religion. We have states with voucher systems that take them away from low-income families because the schools they want engage in their First Amendment freedom to exercise their religion. In the end, parents should be able to choose where their tax dollars go instead of the bureaucrats and liberal activists who have nothing in common with the average American family - especially the average low-income family.”
CONTINUE READING ([link removed])
Share on social media
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fnationalcenter.org%2Fproject21%2F2020%2F01%2F21%2Fblack-activists-push-for-school-choice-at-supreme-court%2F Tweet ([link removed] https%3A%2F%2Fnationalcenter.org%2Fproject21%2F2020%2F01%2F21%2Fblack-activists-push-for-school-choice-at-supreme-court%2F)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
Please also consider making a donation ([link removed]) to help out Project 21. Your support makes Project 21 possible. Thank you.
DONATE NOW ([link removed])
============================================================
CONNECT WITH US
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2020 The National Center, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
Our mailing address is:
The National Center
20 F Street NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
