by Jorge Gomez, Director of Content Strategy • 2 minutes
California is discriminating against families who choose a religious education. According to the state, parents who homeschool their kids cannot participate in public benefit programs if they select curriculum or purchase school materials that even mention religion or come from a religious publisher.
This week, First Liberty asked the U.S. Supreme Court to make it clear that this is unconstitutional.
The case involves three families—John and Breanna Woolard, Hector and Diana Gonzales, and Carrie Dodson—who are devout Christians and whose faith is central to who they are. All three want to ensure their children receive an education based on their religious beliefs and values. That’s why they opted to educate children completely at home, at their own kitchen tables.
California offers a program through its online charter schools in which families can access public funds to choose homeschool courses, materials, and extracurricular activities. But the state says parents can’t use a religious curriculum or materials—not even historical works by Jonathan Edwards or Easter-themed LEGO sets.
Additionally, the schools refuse to issue credit for coursework that originates from a religious curriculum or perspective. First Liberty Counsel Kayla Toney says at one point, California programs expelled the Dodsons and did not give credit to the Woolard and Gonzales children for their worksheets simply because they mentioned God or came from religious publishers.
“Parents should not be punished for choosing quality religious curriculum meeting the state’s standard that they teach to their own children in their own home just because it’s religious,” she explained.
“By denying funds for all religious curricula while simultaneously permitting all other secular material, California displays its blatant and unlawful discrimination,” she continued. “We are asking the Supreme Court to set the record straight that religious families cannot be excluded from programs like this just because of their religious beliefs.”
In Carson v. Makin, a case brought by First Liberty, the Supreme Court set a landmark precedent to protect religious families, allowing them to pursue the best educational option without government interference. The Court held that government can’t discriminate against parents who want to use state-provided funding to attend religious schools simply because those schools are religious.
Even so, California officials are ignoring the Court’s precedent and insist on singling out religious families.
Religious families should never be treated like second-class citizens, and as the Supreme Court held in our Coach Kennedy case, religious speech is doubly protected by the First Amendment. That includes parents teaching their own children in their own homes about their faith.
The Woolard, Gonzales, and Dodson families need your support now more than ever. They can’t do it alone. We’re asking you to join them in this legal battle.
These families are just like yours. Just like mine. They simply want what’s best for their kids. But the state keeps getting in their way and mistreating them.
We need support to win this case. The outcome won’t just impact three families in California. It affects virtually every family in America. This is our opportunity to potentially set a precedent that protects not only our clients, but also your family and millions of families across the country.
