Kendra Espinoza, a single mom in Montana, sought a better education for her daughters. In public school, one daughter was bullied and the other struggled academically. Both would later thrive in a parochial school.
After the Montana Supreme Court struck down her state’s education tax credit program, Ms. Espinoza was denied access to the scholarships her children badly needed. She and two other Montana moms facing similar plights have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in, and it has agreed to do so in January. Pioneer Institute filed amicus briefs in support of Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue and in the coming months, will be working to raise public awareness about this momentous case.
For over a decade, Pioneer has raised our voice in support of these excellent academic options, and tools such as tax credit scholarships that would enable more families to attend. Pioneer has held public forums, published research on the benefits of religious education, on programs that would help increase access for more low-income families, successful models such as Cristo Rey and vocational-tech programs, raising awareness of the dangers of adopting Common Core, and of state government agencies’ practice of depriving religious school students of special needs services and access to school nurses. Pioneer has also convened key stakeholders; appeared in local and national press; produced a documentary film on the impact of legal barriers to school choice, and much more.
The Supreme Court is going to hand down a decision in the potentially landmark case, Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, during the current session. Help us get the message out about the bigoted history of the Blaine Amendments and their negative impact on families across America!
