WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court today struck down the application of a Montana law that prevented parents from using privately funded scholarship funds for their children at religious K-12 schools. Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James offered the following response:

“Religious schools have been a part of American education since this country’s founding. By any measure, they are a valid and often outstanding choice for a child’s education. This decision respects our Constitution as well as families’ rights to seek the best educational opportunities for their children.”

Heritage scholars Emilie Kao, the director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, and Lindsey Burke, director of the Center for Education Policy, added:

“Protecting religious freedom respects our Constitution and provides families with more education options that best meet the needs of their children. This decision strikes a blow to the notoriously anti-Catholic Blaine Amendment in Montana’s constitution that sanctioned explicit discrimination against religious schools in funding. The time has come for other states to cast aside this 19th century rule that unfairly punishes religious families, students, and schools. The Constitution requires states to provide a level playing field for religious and secular education. Montana’s discrimination hurt families who have a wide variety of values and preferences when it comes to their children’s education.”