School Choice Could Defuse Culture War Fights
The Supreme Court is considering what may be the most important religious liberty case it will review this term. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, religious parents representing various faiths are suing Maryland’s Montgomery County Public School District (MCPS) to let them opt their children out of elementary school storybook discussions surrounding themes such as sexuality and gender.
During oral arguments, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned the plaintiffs’ case. “I’m struggling to see how it burdens a parent’s religious exercise if the school teaches something that the parent disagrees with,” Jackson said. “You have a choice. You don’t have to send your kid to that school. You can put them in another situation.”
Practically speaking, many families don’t have a viable educational alternative in Maryland. Without robust school choice, families on the losing end of zero-sum culture war clashes in public schools have little recourse.
Despite Jackson’s claims to the contrary, most families cannot just put their children in “another situation.” Only low-income students are eligible to receive Maryland’s voucher, valued at less than $3,000 during the 2024–25 school year. This would cover just a fraction of the $14,500 average private elementary school tuition in Maryland.
The laws governing public school transfers in Maryland are some of the nation’s weakest. Maryland is one of four states—along with Alaska, Maine, and North Carolina—that score 0 out of 100 points on Reason Foundation’s scoresheet ranking states’ K-12 open enrollment laws. This means the right to transfer to other public schools that have space isn’t codifi
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