Suit Challenges District's Definition of Catholic Schools

Wisconsin Watchdog reports that a state court lawsuit was filed last week claiming that Wisconsin's Friess Lake School District infringed the religious freedom of 3 students when it denied them free transportation to St. Augustine School, an independent school that teaches Catholic doctrine. Under Wisconsin law, public school districts are required to provide transportation for students in religious schools who live more than a mile away from the school in their attendance zone.  If there are multiple religious schools in a district, they must create their own non-overlapping zones. Friess Lake School District authorities have ruled that St. Augustine and another Catholic school that is operated by the Archdiocese are both Catholic schools in the district and must have non-overlapping attendance zones before students are entitled to free transportation.  St. Augustine says it is separate and should be able to get transportation for students from anywhere in the Friess Lake District.  It contends that it is improper for public school authorities to determine that a school which says it is independent is instead Catholic. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty announced the filing of the lawsuit.

Second Lawsuit Challenges Exclusion of Parochial Schools From Montana Tax Credit Plan

As previously reported, earlier this month a state court lawsuit was filed in Montana challenging an administrative rule that excludes religiously affiliated schools from participating in the state's new law that provides state income tax credits for contributions to student scholarship organizations.  This week a second challenge was filed, this time a lawsuit in federal court brought by parents and by the Association of Christian Schools International. (Pacific Legal Foundation press release.) The complaint (full text) in Armstrong v. Kadas, (D MT, filed 12/28/2015), alleges that enforcement of the administrative rule violates the U.S. Constitution's establishment, free exercise and equal protection clauses, as well as Montana law. Great Falls Tribune reports on the lawsuit.

New York City Will Reimburse Private Religious Schools For Security Guards

The Forward last week reported that New York's City Council earlier this month passed legislation to reimburse all nonpublic schools with 300 or more students for unarmed security guards they hire.  The number of guards tor which they will be entitled to reimbursement depends on the size of the school.  Guards must be hired from a list of firms approved by the city, and they must be paid a prevailing wage.  This is part of a growing list of non-religious items  for which religiously affiliated private schools can obtain government funds.  The City will spend up to $19.8 million on the guards in the first year of the program.

Suit Claims Four NY Yeshivas Deny Male Students Adequate Secular Education

The Lower Hudson Journal News reports that on Friday a class action lawsuit was filed in a New York federal district court by parents of students who attend various Orthodox Jewish schools in the East Ramapo school district and by former students of the schools claiming that the schools deny male students adequate secular coursework.  According to the report:

The claim contends that four Hasidic yeshivas in Monsey, Spring Valley and New Square do not teach English, "basic literacy, calculating, and verbal skills necessary to enable children to eventually function productively as civil participants."

The lawsuit also alleges that defendants have broken the law by:

• Failing to hire or train teachers and staff "capable" of teaching secular studies. 
• Discriminating against boys by providing girls with more robust secular studies.
• Failing to oversee or control yeshivas' use of tax money for their designated secular education purposes.
• Failing to properly equip students with English and other skills necessary to obtain employment, creating generations of people who are dependent on government assistance.

The suit asks the court to order and enforce a requirement of 3 hours per day of secular studies with competent teachers, and asks for remedial courses for prior graduates of the schools.

UPDATE: Here is the full text of the complaint in Doe v. State of New York, (SD NY, filed 11/20/2015). [Thanks to Friendly Atheist for the link to the complaint.]

Cert. Filed In Refusal By State To Allow Church School To Participate In Playground Grant Program

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Pauley.  In the case, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments that Missouri's Blaine Amendments violate the free exercise, establishment and equal protection clauses of the federal Constitution. At issue was the refusal by Missouri's Department of Natural Resources of a grant application by Trinity Church for a Playground Scrap Tire Surface Material Grant that would allow it to resurface a playground at its day care and preschool facility on church premises. (See prior posting.) ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition.

Investigative Team Appointed To Study East Ramapo NY Schools

According to the New York Times, last Thursday the New York State Education Department appointed a team of three experts led by former New York City School Chancellor Dennis Walcott to study the operations of the struggling East Ramapo school system and offer recommendations. The Times reports:

Last fall, a former federal prosecutor appointed by the state to investigate the district found that the school board, which is dominated by Orthodox Jews, had diverted money from public schools to children who attend local yeshivas, leaving the district in dire financial trouble. The former prosecutor, Henry M. Greenberg, recommended that the state appoint a fiscal monitor with the power to override decisions by the school board. The State Assembly passed a bill in June that would have created such a position, but amid complaints from the East Ramapo school board that it would usurp local control of schools, the bill died in the State Senate.

Mr. Walcott and his team will not have the power to override decisions by the school board. But the state education commissioner, MaryEllen Elia, said in an interview that the department had been in discussions with the school board, and that she hoped the board would be amenable to the experts’ recommendations.

(See prior related posting.)

Federal Disabilities Education Act Does Not Require Plan Tailored To Student's Religious Needs

In M.L. ex rel Leiman v. Starr, (D MD, Aug. 3, 2015), a Maryland federal district court held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) does not require a public school system to take account of a student's religious and cultural needs in designing an individualized education program (IEP) for him. Under 20 USC 1412, federal assistance is available to states that make free appropriate public education available to all children with disabilities.  However, IDEA

does not require a local educational agency to pay for the cost of education ... of a child with a disability at a private school ... if that agency made a free appropriate public education available to the child and the parents elected to place the child in such private school....

In this case, the court rejected the claim by an Orthodox rabbi and his wife that a public school system did not make a free appropriate public education available to their Down syndrome son when his IEP was not geared to his religious and cultural identity as an Orthodox Jew.  According to the court, a student's program is to be individualized considering the student's cognitive and developmental capabilities and needs.  It does not need to be "specifically tailored to the religious and cultural enclave in which the student lives."

Orthodox Jewish Group To Lobby For More New York Day School Aid

The Forward reported this week that the Orthodox Union, the organization representing non-haredi Orthodox Jewish synagogues, is planning a multi-million dollar, multi-year advocacy campaign to try to increase governmental aid for Jewish day schools in New York.  The OU already has ten full-time staff members working on the project, and will be adding more. New York state has over 150,000 students in Jewish day schools and yeshivas. Tuition at some New York Jewish schools exceeds $30,000 per year.

Ohio School Mentorship Grants Are Required To Include Faith-Based Partners

The Ohio legislature earlier this year appropriated $10 million for a Career Advising and Mentoring Grant Program, specifying:

The program shall award competitive matching grants to provide funding for local networks of volunteers and organizations to sponsor career advising and mentoring for students in eligible school districts.... Eligible school districts are those with a high percentage of students in poverty, a high number of students not graduating on time, and other criteria as determined by the State Superintendent. Eligible school districts shall partner with members of the business community, civic organizations, or the faith-based community to provide sustainable career advising and mentoring services. [Am H.B. 483, Sec. 263.320]

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that at an informational meeting held in Cleveland last week, school districts that are potential applicants were told by an Ohio Department of Education representative that: "each application must include a school district (or charter school) plus a business and a place of worship or faith-based organization in its partnership." A United Way representative that sits on the advisory panel for the program said the same thing.  Americans United takes issue with the requirement-- added in Department of Education rule making-- that a faith-based organization is required to be part of each partnership.

Monitor's Report Critical of Actions By Orthodox Jewish Majority On East Ramapo NY School Board

The New York Times reported yesterday that a state-appointed monitor has delivered a report to the New York State Board of Regents sharply critical of the East Ramapo (NY) School District board.  A majority of the East Ramapo Board's members are Orthodox Jews. In the district, Jewish yeshivas enroll around 24,000 students while the public schools enroll 9,000 students, predominately Black and Latino. Public school parents complain that the Board gives increasing financial aid to yeshivas, while cutting public school budgets. The special monitor, Hank Greenberg, essentially agreed, saying:

What I have found is that you have a board deeply influenced and informed by the community from which they’ve come — so concerned about the children of that community that it has blinded them to the needs of the entire community,

His report calls for more state funding, accompanied by a new law that would provide for a fiscal monitor with the power to overrule decisions of the school board and superintendent. East Ramapo school board president Yehuda Weismandel issued a statement (full text) responding to the monitor's report.