Giving Compass' Take:

• At The 74, Kevin Mahnken discusses the implications of the Supreme Court's Espinoza Ruling, which allows for public funding to support religious private schools.

• How can you spread awareness about the Espinoza Ruling and how it affects your community?

• Learn about the debate over allocating coronavirus education relief funds, which may feel the impact of this ruling.

In the case of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a 5-4 conservative majority found that states could not exclude religious institutions from participating in programs that subsidize private school tuition.

The opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, was hailed by religious liberties groups as a landmark victory, even as the 3 million-member National Education Association decried it as “a far-right effort” to undermine public education. For his own part, Roberts said that the principle underlying the decision was simple: Religious schools are no different from secular schools when it comes to receiving public benefits.

“A State need not subsidize private education,” he wrote. “But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”

Still unknown is how the ruling could impact other states’ efforts to subsidize private school choice. Those initiatives take various forms: 16 states, along with Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., have enacted private school voucher programs, while another 18 offer tax-credit scholarships.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who vigorously backed the Espinoza plaintiffs and personally attended oral arguments for the case in January, sounded a triumphant note in a press release.

Many progressives were buoyed by the court’s decisions this session, which included striking down a restrictive anti-abortion law in Louisiana, supporting protections for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, and issuing a ban against employment discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Interfaith Alliance, a group that works to preserve the separation of church and state, warned in a statement that the Espinoza ruling “will further starve our public school systems while inflicting lasting damage to the wall of separation between religion and government.”

Read the full article about the Espinoza Ruling by Kevin Mahnken at The 74.