Jewish Parents Demands Equal Access To Special Needs Education Funding for Religious Schools; Sues California Department of Education

Three sets of Jewish parents whose kids require special needs education are suing the state of California.

A lawsuit against the California Department of Education was filed Monday by a group of Jewish parents, demanding from the state an equal provision for students enrolled in private religious schools in terms of special needs education funding.

"It takes a special kind of chutzpah to deny Jewish kids with disabilities equal access to special education benefits. California politicians can end this unlawful discrimination the easy way or the hard way. Either they change the law that is hurting children with disabilities, or they can shamefully fight in court for the right to discriminate," boldly proclaimed Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, a "non-profit, public interest legal and educational institution" that provides pro-bono legal assistance to defend religious liberty, at the same time the organization that is representing the parents in the lawsuit.

Private religious schools lack funding

According to Becket, the country has a federal law named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It ensures that all children with disabilities in America can receive a free public education to meet their needs. Funds from the act will help pay the cost of staff training, special education programs, assistive technology, and other services.

Part of IDEA's benefits for children with disabilities is placing them in private schools when the public school cannot meet their needs. They can be enrolled in either secular or religious private schools, depending on what truly fits the child with a disability.

Other states support and follow IDEA, but California does not. The California law only allows secular private schools as participants in the benefits program and "categorically excluded" religious schools.

The three Jewish parents that filed the lawsuit have children requiring special needs education. With this, they want their kids to receive an education that will allow them to reach their full potential and an education centered on their Jewish religious beliefs.

Jewish schools - Shalhevet High School and Yavneh Hebrew Academy, do not want anything but provide this education to children with special needs. Unfortunately, they cannot, as they lack the budget for those services without access to state or federal funding.

Violates civil rights of parents

Rassbach called out the state's elected officials for hurting these children instead of helping and protecting them as society's most vulnerable individuals. Further, he declared that there is no reason to continue with this "outmoded law" and instead should give children with disabilities the equal benefits they deserve.

The lawsuit claims that the current law violates the civil rights of parents under the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in terms of religious discrimination and equal protection of parents under the law.

One of the counsels at Becket, Laura Wolk Slavis, emphasized that if a state offers its citizens a "public benefit," it cannot in any way exclude participants just because they are religious, especially if they are qualified.

Slavis confidently shared that the legal precedent is "absolutely" on their side provided in the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions, according to the National Catholic Register.

The California Department of Education spokesperson spoke to Channel News Asia and said no lawsuit had been served yet. Thus, they would not provide any comment about the issue until they got to review it thoroughly.