Chairman Scott Statement on Carson v. Makin SCOTUS Decision

Statement

Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court's decision in Carson v. Makin. Maine offers a tuition assistance program to parents in areas of the state where public secondary schools are not available contingent upon private schools meeting certain criteria, including that the education be "nonsectarian.' However, in today's decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Maine must also allow religious schools access the publically funded tuition assistance program.

"Public dollars should be used to fund public schools. However, in its Carson v. Makin decision, the Supreme Court, once again, ruled in favor of funneling taxpayer dollars into private, religious education. This decision will negatively impact the roughly ninety percent of our nation's students who attend public schools and will see resources diverted away from their education.

"Moreover, as Justice Sotomayor stated in her dissent, "this Court continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build.' According to the Court's majority, private, religious schools--that explicitly discriminate based on sex, sexual orientation, and religion--must now be given access to taxpayer money.

"Today's ruling ultimately makes our students more vulnerable to discrimination and sets us back in our efforts to provide every student with an equitable, quality public education."

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