Today is an historic day for Montana and the future of public education in this country.
The United States Supreme Court will hear Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and determine if tax credits can be used to send children to private schools.
This is a no-brainer: Montana’s constitution explicitly prohibits aid to religious schools. Because of this clear language, the Montana Supreme Court rightly ruled that tax credits could not be used to send children to religious schools and deemed the program as unconstitutional in 2018.
That means that right now there isn’t currently a program in Montana that sends public money to private religious schools. Out-of-state legal activists are arguing that we need to create one.
Enter private school enthusiasts like Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos, and our own Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elsie Arntzen, supporting the program, which if continued would divert millions of government dollars to private schools.
Elsie Arntzen is aligning herself with Betsy DeVos yet again in a brazen attack not only on our state’s public education system, but on our constitution itself.
Our public schools are under attack by this administration, and a ruling allowing taxpayer dollars to fund private schools would be disastrous for our education systems.
We should be investing in public education, not siphoning off valuable dollars that could be better used helping all our children succeed.
Help us fight back against Arntzen’s dangerous privatization agenda! Join my campaign to restore leadership to the Office of Public Instruction and ensure a brighter future for all Montana children.
