In 3-0 vote, court rules California violated law by discriminating against Jewish students

(JNS) — Orthodox Jewish parents of children with disabilities have attempted for decades to send their children to Jewish day schools in California. They were denied because while federal funding is available for private schools to provide critical support services, California lawmakers have banned money available for kids with special needs from being used at religious private schools, including Jewish ones.

In a 3-0 ruling on Monday, a federal appeals court effectively declared that California is violating federal law.

“We easily conclude that the nonsectarian requirement fails the neutrality test,” went an opinion authored by Judge Kim Wardlaw, and joined by Judge Morgan Christen and Judge Mark Bennett.

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed by Congress in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities receive education that meets their required needs and provides federal funding to states for special education programs in public schools.

Since public schools cannot always meet those requirements due to a variety of reasons, federal and state law allows that money to be used in private and charter schools. However, in California, religious private schools were excluded from such usage.

On March 13, 2013, the offices of Becket Law filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California “to ensure that religious parents can make sure their children with disabilities receive an education that is right for them and that religious schools are able to receive the critical support needed to educate students with disabilities.”

They lost the case on Aug. 10, 2023.

Becket appealed, and more than a year later, on Oct. 28, it received a favorable ruling in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The case will now return to the district court.

The State of California has 90 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

“This is a massive win for Jewish families in California,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “It was always wrong to cut Jewish kids off from getting disability benefits solely because they want to follow their faith.”

Rassbach told JNS that “California politicians are depriving children with disabilities the resources they deserve just because they are Jewish. The court was right to rule against the state’s blatant religious targeting. This is a massive victory for religious freedom and a resounding message to California: Faith can’t be a barrier to educational rights.”

Maury Litwack, the founder of Teach Coalition, an initiative associated with the Orthodox Union that advocates on behalf of Jewish day schools and yeshivahs for equitable government funding and resources, told JNS he echoes Rassbach’s sentiment.

“Today’s unanimous 3-0 ruling has confirmed that California has long been violating the law by discriminating against religious parents and schools in its special-education programs,” he told JNS. “This is a game-changing moment for our community and for religious families of children with disabilities everywhere—not only requiring change in the state of California but holding nationwide implications as well.”