Some families of students with disabilities in Montana may be reimbursed by the state for private education expenses following a district court ruling this week.
Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Mike Menahan declined to temporarily stop the reimbursement program from going into effect. It’s part of a 2023 law supported by Republican legislators and school choice advocates that allows parents of children with disabilities to apply for an “education savings account.”
The program works like this: qualified parents ask the state education department to be reimbursed for private educational expenses. Those can include things like tutoring, online programs or private school tuition. Parents could be reimbursed up to $8,000 annually, and the money would come directly from their local school district.
Republican lawmakers last year pitched the program as a way to provide educational flexibility for students with disabilities.
Public education and disability rights advocates sued to stop the program. They argued students who participated would not be guaranteed a quality education, which Montana’s constitution requires.
Judge Menahan in his ruling said the plaintiffs didn’t prove an immediate harm needed to temporarily block the law. A final decision on its constitutionality will come later.
