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Hello,
The Supreme Court is hearing a crucial case today, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, that may be disastrous for both public education and religious liberty, and I want to make sure you know what is happening.
The issue in Espinoza is whether vouchers and tax credits for religious schools can be mandated, even in the 38 states that have constitutions requiring public dollars go to public schools. The Supreme Court could overturn 200 years of precedent and upend religious liberty and the separation of church and state. This right-wing-backed case is challenging the law in Montana that prevents the state from funding religious schools.
Just like Janus v. AFSCME two years ago, Espinoza is a case intended to use the Supreme Court’s emerging conservative majority to advance a right-wing agenda—in Janus, it was an assault on labor and, here, it is an assault on public education. The Espinoza case is supported by anti-public education forces, like the DeVos family, that are focused on privatizing the tax dollars that should be invested in the public schools that 90 percent of our students attend.
We won’t know the court’s decision in Espinoza for many months, but I want to make sure that the public knows what’s going on. Will you take a moment to share this article about the case on Facebook or Twitter?
As a person of faith, I’m deeply worried about the considerable impact this case could have. Our freedom to practice our religion comes from the free exercise clause of our Constitution and the concept of separation of church and state. As our brief in the case lays out, legislative history makes clear the framers never intended to require public funding of religious institutions or schools. In fact, that’s exactly what the free exercise clause and the separation of church and state were intended to prevent.
The framers were rightly concerned that public funding of religion would entangle the government in the functioning of religious institutions and would undermine freedom of religion. The free exercise clause is what ensures and enshrines Americans’ freedom to practice the religion of their choice by keeping the government out of those decisions. That is how we became a nation of citizens who are deeply religious and who hold diverse faiths and views.
This case is also a blatant attack on public education. It’s being spearheaded by the Institute for Justice, which has collected tens of millions of dollars from the Waltons, the DeVoses, Charles Koch and other wealthy right-wing donors. They are bankrolling this effort as a backdoor attempt to get the Supreme Court to impose the failed DeVos agenda of private school vouchers nationwide.
We know that in previous cases, Chief Justice John Roberts did not embrace this type of radical rewriting of our Constitution. But the right wing has been stealthy in how it’s operated here, knowing that the court is acutely aware of public opinion. We need to make sure that teachers, students, parents, school staff, and all allies who believe in public education understand and are speaking out about the ramifications of this case.
The Supreme Court should respect the Constitution’s clear lines ensuring religious liberty by keeping church and state separate. That means it must not mandate public support for religious schools.
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In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
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