California Must Stop Discriminating Against Religious Schools to Serve Special Needs Students

Over the past six years, the Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that once government chooses to provide funding for private schools, it cannot discriminate against religious schools by excluding them from that program. Yet earlier this month, a federal district court upheld a California law doing just that — prohibiting religious schools from becoming state-certified special-needs schools with all the funding benefits that come with such a certification.

Three Los Angeles Jewish families, along with two Los Angeles Jewish schools, filed the suit, challenging the constitutionality of the law as unlawful religious discrimination. But notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s directives, the Federal District Court rejected these claims. The plaintiffs’ immediate decision to appeal means that the case will now go to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal; at stake, whether courts will deliver on the Supreme Court’s promise to end religious discrimination when it comes to government funding.

The lawsuit stems from the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides states with federal funds to support students with disabilities. To remain eligible for those funds, states must ensure that every child with disabilities receives a “free appropriate public education.” In the majority of cases, this simply means that children with disabilities receive an education through the public school system that meets their particular needs.

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