Podcast: Jason Bedrick on the Supreme Court’s Blockbuster School-Choice Ruling

This Week’s Guest: Jason Bedrick

This week, as the Supreme Court closed out its 2019-2020 term, it handed down its decision in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. With a 5-4 majority, the Court ruled that states could not use their so-called “Blaine Amendments” in order to deny religious schools funding generally available to other private schools. It was a momentous decision, with implications for school-choice programs and religious liberty across the nation.

Earlier this year, soon after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, we had a discussion with legal professor Michael Avi Helfand about the legal ins and outs of Espinoza. Now, in this follow-up podcast, Jonathan Silver sits down with EdChoice Director of Policy Jason Bedrick to discuss the Court’s ultimate decision, what it means for school choice and religious pluralism, and what it means for the Jewish community specifically. Bedrick and Silver also talk about school choice programs in general, the ongoing debate about government oversight of ultra-Orthodox educational institutions in the U.S., and the recent expansion of educational choice in Florida.