Forum Collection
Religion and the Public Schools: Reflections on Carson v. Makin
This Collection analyzes the Court’s decision in Carson v. Makin last Term. What does the case mean for minority students? LGBTQ children? How does it connect to the broader movement for public education in the United States? How does it relate to the history of religious schools in our country?
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Who’s Afraid of Carson v. Makin?
Carson v. Makin was yet another defeat for progressives in a brutal term. But just how bad was it? This Essay examines how Democratic lawmakers in Maine have already neutralized the ruling, teaching important lessons about how concerned Americans can best resist the Court’s conservative supermajorit…
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The Once and Future Promise of Religious Schools for Poor and Minority Students
When Carson v. Makin allowed religious schools participation in educational-choice programs, the public-school establishment predicted dire results for marginalized students. This Essay responds to that prediction, exploring religious schools’ historical importance to marginalized students, the publ…
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When Religion and the Public-Education Mission Collide
Recently, the Supreme Court has chosen education as the primary stomping ground for rewriting Free Exercise Clause doctrine. It has framed education policies that prevented public funds from promoting religious indoctrination as discrimination. In the process, it has created a new victim—educational…
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Racialized Religious School Segregation
Carson v. Makin has several implications for the future of school-choice programs. This Essay explores one possibility: an increase in sectarian schools participating in state-funded school-choice programs, causing new forms of school segregation based on race and religion and impairing the democrac…