What is dubbed Michigan’s “Blaine amendment,” passed by the state’s voters in 1970, prevents any public dollars from being used for any nonpublic school expenses, including funds from education savings accounts. Michigan’s amendment is considered the most restrictive of any in the country.
Named for the congressman who introduced it, the original proposed 19th-century Blaine amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would have banned government aid to “sectarian” schools, failed in Congress. These efforts were also brought before state legislatures. A total of 37 states enacted laws and constitutional provisions called Blaine amendments prohibiting public support for private sectarian schools.
The Supreme Court watered down these prohibitions in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which ruled in 2020 that Montana’s scholarship program for students attending private schools cannot discriminate against religious schools, citing the free exercise clause of the Constitution. However, the ruling did not apply to Michigan because Michigan prohibits public funding of students in any nonpublic K–12 school and does not explicitly reference religious schools.
According to the nonprofit EdChoice, 32 states have school choice provisions, with universal or nearly universal choice programs in 11 states. The latter include scholarship programs and education savings accounts that are funded by tax credits and vouchers.
In a brief to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Mackinac Center recalled the history of anti-Catholic bigotry in the 19th century when immigrants came to the U.S. and asked for public support for Catholic schools. At the time, public education included Protestant prayer and Bible study under the guise of “nonsectarian” instruction, the brief indicated.
Michigan was no stranger to anti-Catholic sentiment, which continued well into the 20th century. For instance, a proposed 1920 amendment to require all children ages 5 to 16 to attend public schools failed to win voters’ support. This was when 1 in 20 Michigan children attended Catholic schools. The Ku Klux Klan supported a similarly failed initiative in 1924.