Supporters of school choice, including for Jewish families to have more control over which educational institutions receive their tax dollars, received good and bad news on Thursday morning.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Educational Choice for Children Act as part of its reconciliation bill—what U.S. President Donald Trump has called the “one, big, beautiful bill”—while the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in a split vote, to block a religious charter school in Oklahoma.
Trump called the now Senate-bound tax bill “arguably the most significant piece of legislation that will ever be signed in the history of our country.”
“The school choice provision is a tremendous victory for Jewish families and those in other faith communities, who pay their fair share of taxes but send their children to a religious nonpublic school because they, their parents, think that’s the best school for their children,” stated Nathan Diament, executive director of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center.
“Congress will be hearing from our members about the importance of keeping and improving the ECCA in the Senate version of the bill,” Diament stated.
The Orthodox Union applauded the “historic passage of a federal school choice program in the House.” It noted that the program “gives federal tax credits to individuals who donate to a scholarship-granting institution,” and that families may “use those scholarships at the nonpublic K-12 school of their choosing.”
Rabbi A. D. Motzen, national director of government affairs at Agudath Israel of America, told JNS that “the House vote today showed that school choice is a priority for the American people.”
“Seventeen states have enacted universal school choice bills in the last four years, and it’s time to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise of universal school choice in all 50 states,” Motzen told JNS. “We look forward to the Senate making its mark on this important issue.”
“I’m all about putting power back in the hands of parents,” stated Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “Proud to see the Educational Choice for Children Act included in the big, beautiful bill. This tax credit gives working families real options when it comes to their child’s education.”
Brian Jodice, the national press secretary of the American Federation for Children, stated that it was “big news” that the House passed the reconciliation bill, 215 to 214 (with one abstention), which includes “the national school choice tax credit.”
“We are one step closer to school choice in every state in America,” he stated.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 4-4 to uphold an Oklahoma state Supreme Court decision blocking the creation of a Catholic charter school in the state.
“The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court,” the high court stated. “Justice Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of these cases.” It did not post any opinions.
Gentner Drummond, the Oklahoma attorney general and a Republican, stated that “the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of my position that we should not allow taxpayer funding of radical Islamic schools here in Oklahoma.”
“I am proud to have fought against this potential cancer in our state, and I will continue upholding the law, protecting our Christian values and defending religious liberty,” he stated.
“The reason this happened is because Amy Coney Barrett did not participate,” wrote Eric Daugherty, of Florida’s Voice.
“Justice Barrett recused from the case, and the decision was equally divided. In such 4-4 cases, the court automatically upholds the lower court’s opinion. There was no writing from the justices here,” SCOTUSblog stated. “The Oklahoma court’s decision only applies in Oklahoma, so the question of religious public charter schools could come back up to the justices from another state.”