Author Topic: The Anti-Catholic Law (Read 1684 times)

poche · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2020, 04:11:51 AM »

On January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in one of the most significant education cases in decades, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. The outcome could change the landscape of schooling in America as we know it.
We have filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of a dozen organizations and civil rights leaders who believe that protecting the constitutional rights of parents like Kendra Espinoza, the lead plaintiff, to direct the education of their children is essential to student success and our nation.
Espinoza is a single mother who had been working three jobs to send her daughters to a private religious school. She was precisely who Montana lawmakers had in mind when the state enacted a new scholarship program. But even though the legislature made the scholarships available to all, Montana officials told Espinoza she could not use the funds at a religious school, citing the state’s so-called “Blaine Amendment.” The provision, currently part of 37 state constitutions, originated with Rep. James G. Blaine of Maine, who in 1875 attempted to pass a federal constitutional amendment providing:
“[N]o money raised by taxation in any State for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under the control of any religious sect, nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations.”
As widely docuмented, by “sect” and “sectarian,” the amendment (and its later incarnations) meant “Catholic,” as its target was mid-19th-century Catholic immigrants, who challenged the era’s Protestant-dominated public education system. Its introduction was mainly a result of the prejudice stirred by the aptly named Know-Nothing movement. The amendment narrowly failed at the federal level, but it spread in the states and continues to foster present-day animosity toward religion.
Modern-day supporters of the Blaine Amendment – including groups like the American Federation of Teachers and the American Civil Liberties Union – argue that Blaine Amendments protect schools from religious indoctrination and public funds from “advancing” religion. But Espinoza did not seek to advance religion. She sought to advance the education of her daughters and thought religious schools are the best fit.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/laws-across-country-keeping-parents-154650762.html

CathInfo.com

Author Topic: The Anti-Catholic Law (Read 1684 times)

poche

Re: The Anti-Catholic Law