A recent ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has determined that California cannot prevent Orthodox Jewish parents from using state funds to enroll their children in special education programs with a religious focus.
This decision challenges the existing interpretation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which currently bars state funding for religious schools.
The ruling, delivered by a three-judge panel, was penned by Circuit Judge Kim Wardlaw. She noted that California could not substantiate its claim that the "nonsectarian requirement is narrowly tailored to serve that interest" of maintaining governmental neutrality. Judge Wardlaw explained, ”Parent Plaintiffs are required to choose between the special education benefits made available through public school enrollment (and subsequent referral to a [non-public, non-sectarian school]) and education in an Orthodox Jewish setting.”
Despite the broader ruling favoring the plaintiffs, the Seventh Circuit did not rule entirely in the Loffman family's favor. Judge Wardlaw emphasized that “the complaint contains insufficient factual allegations to plausibly demonstrate that the nonsectarian requirement has any effect on” their child’s “educational placement.”
The case has been remanded to the district court, with instructions to reconsider the plaintiffs' complaint claims and to lift the previous denial of their motion for a preliminary injunction.
Becket Law, an organization dedicated to religious liberty that represented the parents, expressed their satisfaction with the unanimous decision. Eric Rassbach, the vice president and senior counsel at Becket commented, “This is a massive win for Jewish families in California." He added, ”It was always wrong to cut Jewish kids off from getting disability benefits solely because they want to follow their faith. The court did the right thing by ruling against California’s bald-faced discrimination.”
The initial lawsuit was filed in March the previous year. The defendants named in the complaint include the California Department of Education, Tony Thurmond, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Anthony Aguilar, chief of special education, equity and access, alongside the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause by denying funds for special needs education at Orthodox Jewish schools. California Education Code requires schools receiving federal IDEA funding to be nonsectarian.
Previously, in August of the past year, U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton ruled against the plaintiffs. Her decision was based partly on the assertion that the complaint “mischaracterizes the nature of the available benefits” and that “California’s nonsectarian requirement applies to schools, not IDEA-eligible children and their parents.”
Judge Staton explained, ”California's NPS(Non-Public School) system is not a mechanism for subsidizing the education of IDEA-eligible children at private schools." Instead, she described it as a framework where the state contracts out its educational responsibilities to private institutions, adhering to IDEA requirements and the same educational standards that apply to local public education agencies.
