CARSON CITY, Nevada — The Nevada Supreme Court struck down a voucher-style education program Sept. 29 that allowed parents to spend state money to send their children to a religious school if they chose.
The state’s Education Savings Program — the most extensive school-choice plan in the country — allowed parents to receive grants from the state’s public school funding for use at an eligible private school. But in the 4–2 ruling, the court declared the program unconstitutional.
But it did so for different reasons than those argued by the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) for Religious Liberty, which said the use of taxpayer funds for any “sectarian purpose” was unconstitutional and that such a program made “religious institutions beholden to the State.”
It was a threat to “the vibrant diversity of religious beliefs and the freedom of conscience that Nevadans currently enjoy,” said Jennifer Hawks, BJC associate general counsel.
But the Nevada Supreme Court rejected that argument, saying that once the voucher money was in the hands of the parent, it was no longer “public funds.”
Instead the court declared the voucher program unconstitutional because it failed to appropriate enough money to sufficiently fund the state’s public schools before implementing the voucher plan. (TAB)
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