64 | Public Money and Private Schools: When School Choice Vouchers Violate a State Constitution

Описание: Can a state, like say South Carolina, consistent with its state constitution, create a school choice program that allows families to pay for private school tuition from a state-funded education savings account? That's right, today we're doing a completely apolitical case. Just kidding! That would be a nice change, but this is education law; everything is political! So today, we're talking about school choice with the case Eidson v. the South Carolina Department of Education. In 2023, South Carolina created a program to fund education savings accounts (ESAs). Eligible families could then use those accounts to pay for qualifying educational programs or activities, including private school tuition. But the South Carolina constitution says that no public funds can be spent for the direct benefit of private schools. Can you see the potential conflict? We also discuss a recent decision by the Trump administration to abandon its appeal of a Court order pausing some of the administration's anti-DEI efforts, meaning that the efforts remain on hold.

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Keywords: school funding, school choice, vouchers, education savings accounts, South Carolina, parents' rights, DEI

#educationlaw #k12 #podcast #ChalkandGavel #SchoolChoice