A lawsuit is challenging a new Montana law that directs public school funding to special needs students outside of the public school system.
The case centers around the question of who can legally benefit from state public school funding.
The 2023 Legislature passed a bill to make public dollars available to families of students with special needs. The law says families can use that money for educational expenses, including supplies, textbooks, therapies, or tuition — including at private schools.
A group of education and disability rights advocates said the policy illegally defunds public schools and is a step toward privatized education. Lawyer for the plaintiffs Rylee Sommers-Flanagan said the law is unconstitutionally broad.
“There are a whole lot of things that I think are probably legitimate educational expenses, in some way, that are not what our public education dollars should be spent on,” Sommers-Flanagan said.
Republicans supported the law during the last legislative session as a way to expand educational opportunities for students with special needs. The policy is also backed by the state's Republican superintendent of public instruction.
In a statement, Superintendent Elsie Arntzen said, “Montana parents know the educational needs of their students better than the government.” She added the law includes a “rigorous accountability process” for spending state dollars.
The law would require schools to make annual payments for each student in their district who qualifies for the program. Those payments could total anywhere from $5,000 to more than $8,000. Plaintiffs argue that unconstitutionally limits schools’ ability to provide students a quality education.
Plaintiffs are asking a Montana district court judge to declare the law unconstitutional and block the program from going into effect on July 1.
