A Policy Guide to Education

Choice in Education: Why Michigan Opportunity Scholarships are Constitutional

Families across Michigan were frustrated and exasperated by the lack of educational options available during the COVID pandemic. But the pandemic only exposed and magnified the obstacles Michigan parents encounter as they try to meet their children’s specific academic needs.

For some families, this means gaining access to a stable in-person private school. Others need support to hire a tutor for their public school student, buy supplemental instructional materials, or pay for special-needs therapies. Students may also require help to enroll in higher education courses or career apprenticeships.

While families in many other parts of the country can use state-allotted student funding to help cover the costs of these educational options, families in Michigan can’t. They have been restricted by the state constitution’s antiquated and discriminatory “Blaine Amendment,” a provision which prevents parents from drawing on state funding to go outside the public school system.

Fortunately for Michigan parents and students, the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that state-based scholarship funds could be used to help students attend private schools. More specifically, the high court’s decision in the case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue stated that any restrictions on using these funds cannot discriminate against religious institutions.

U.S. Supreme Court decisions carry the weight of federal law. Now that the high court has spoken, Michigan families can demand that state lawmakers honor their right to apply scholarship fund dollars to the educational materials and services that best suit their children’s needs.