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ERIC Number: ED677376
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-May
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
NEPC Review: "The Persistence of Religious Discrimination in Publicly Funded Pre-K Programs" (Manhattan Institute, January 2025)
Joshua Weishart
National Education Policy Center
A recent Manhattan Institute report claims that many religious pre-K providers are being totally or partially excluded from publicly funded education programs that are open to other private schools, despite recent Supreme Court decisions prohibiting such exclusions. Through keyword searches and online reviews of statutes, regulations, and websites, the report identifies written state and school district policies that it claims exclude religious pre-K providers because of their religious status or religious use of public funds. Based solely on these policies--as opposed to the enforcement of the policies--the report accuses many public programs of engaging in hostile religious discrimination. But there is another more plausible, benign explanation: These policies simply have not yet been updated to conform to the recent Supreme Court decisions. It is quite common for a law to remain "on the books" even after a judicial decision declares it invalid, which is something that could be addressed but is not evidence of widespread discrimination. The report inexplicably omits any surveys of religious pre-K providers or sampling from direct communications with school officials to verify whether such policies are being enforced. Yet even as it alleges discrimination against religious pre-K schools, who incidentally educate under one percent of all pre-K schoolchildren, the report omits any reflection about the openly discriminatory policies and practices of many religious schools enrolling students all the way through 12th grade, who educate far, far more. That is a reflection that will be sorely needed should the Supreme Court, later this term, insist that states must accept religious charter schools.
National Education Policy Center. School of Education 249 UCB University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309. Tel: 303-735-5290; e-mail: nepc@colorado.edu; Web site: http://nepc.colorado.edu
Related Records: ED672587
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education; Elementary Education; Kindergarten; Primary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice
Authoring Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder, National Education Policy Center (NEPC)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A