A critique of school choice, substantive neutrality, and modern religious jurisprudence

Abstract

In this essay I will first describe the relevant history, background, and details of education in the United States vis a vis School Choice and religious schooling. Next I will evaluate the government’s interests in providing public education, the extent to which religious education satisfies those interests, and the resulting implications on arguments which divert public funding toward religious schools. After that I will discuss the incentives provided through religious exemptions, influencing religious choices in opposition to the principles of Substantive Neutrality—although with its proponents’ approval. Finally I will look at the recent Arizona School Choice program as a case study to extrapolate potential outcomes associated with School Choice’s convergence with Substantive Neutrality.