Last week, Secretary Betsy DeVos announced that the U.S. Department of Education will stop enforcing a provision in federal law that has long barred religious organizations from contracting with private schools to provide federally funded "equitable services," such as tutoring and professional development. In a letter to Congress, DeVos explained that she was acting in accordance with the Supreme Court's 2017 verdict in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer.
In Trinity Lutheran, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Missouri had engaged in unconstitutional discrimination by denying a church-run preschool access to a publicly funded program for playground improvement. Under the Constitution's free-exercise clause, the Court found, otherwise eligible entities cannot be disqualified from a public benefit "based solely on their religious status."
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