Attorney Laura Slavis of Becket says the state law needs to go. It forbids federal and state special education funding from being used at religious private schools; secular private schools, however, are welcome to it.
"This law has existed for decades in California, but it is absolutely outdated, outmoded, and it is time for California to strip it from the books," Slavis submits.
In Carson v. Makin, the Supreme Court recently struck down a similar law in Maine, and Becket is asking a Los Angeles federal court to do the same in Loffman v. California Department of Education.
"We don't think California has a good enough reason; we don't think any reason they could give would justify this explicit discrimination," Slavis relays. "We are hoping that because of this lawsuit, they will see the light and come to the same conclusion."
According to Becket, the California law also violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law ensuring that all children with disabilities in America can receive a free appropriate public education that meets their needs.
