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

  • by:
  • Source: Jewish Journal
  • 08/23/2023
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.

Please help put parents in charge of their child’s education by forwarding this article to other parents, family, friends and voters.
Religion by Noah Holm is licensed under Unsplash unsplash.com

Other Articles

Growing Number Of Teachers Denounce Recently Passed Bill Guaranteeing 30 Minutes Of Recess A Day
A growing number of teachers across the state have continued to denounce a bill signed into law earlier this month that guarantees at least 30 minutes of recess a day, with many saying that schools need to be flexible on the amount of recess time given due to multiple factors based on the individual school.
Read More
HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR CREATES FREE STEM TUTORING SERVICE FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
Jasmine Garry, 17, has been passionate about technology since she was young. When she learned that girls often lose interest and are underrepresented in STEM fields, she knew she wanted to do something to inspire young students.
Read More
Early childhood teachers are hard to find. Oakland schools have a plan to ‘grow their own’
The new program comes at a time when early childhood education is suffering from low wages and staffing shortages.
Read More
What will happen to sports if Fresno Unified teachers strike
With Fresno Unified School District and its teachers awaiting the results of last Wednesday’s strike vote, there are still a lot of questions about what could happen to after-school sports if teachers do go on strike.
Read More
Inflation exacerbates the ‘teacher pay penalty,’ report suggests
The “teacher pay penalty” — the gap between the wages of teachers and similarly educated professionals — hit a record high of 26.4% in 2022, according to an Economic Policy Institute report released Friday, as K-12 Dive reported.
Read More
Examining the impact of California's ban on affirmative action in public schools
California banned affirmative action in public schools in 1996. NPR's A Martinez talks to Zachary Bleemer, incoming assistant professor of economics at Princeton University, about the ban's impact.
Read More
15 States Where Teachers Make More Than the Average American
Despite the importance of their jobs, teachers sometimes get the short end of the stick when it comes to pay. Although the average annual wage for teachers is $68,373, compared with the average annual wage of $61,900 for all other U.S. occupations, teacher pay varies widely from state to state.
Read More

Get latest news delivered daily!

We will send you breaking news right to your inbox

© 2025 educationopportunity.org, Privacy Policy | FPPC #1460602