New Report: Religious Discrimination in Publicly Funded Pre-K Programs Persists

NEW YORK, NY – Despite recent Supreme Court rulings mandating religious neutrality, many publicly funded pre-kindergarten (pre-K) programs across the United States continue to discriminate against faith-based providers, violating the Free Exercise Clause principles. A new Manhattan Institute report, authored by Nicole Stelle Garnett, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame; Tim Rosenberger, a legal fellow at the Manhattan Institute; and J. Theodore Austin, an undergraduate student at the University of Notre Dame, sheds light on these persistent discriminatory practices.

The report examines how pre-K programs frequently sideline religious organizations by prohibiting them from engaging in religious activities or instruction as a condition of participation. Such policies contravene the Supreme Court’s rulings in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017), Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020), and Carson v. Makin (2022), which collectively establish that excluding religious organizations or activities from public programs is unconstitutional.

Key findings from the report include the following:

• Many state and local pre-K programs discriminate against religious providers by barring funding for religious instruction or requiring them to scrub all religious practices from the school day.
• Examples of problematic policies are on public record in over 15 state’s pre-K programs—from California to Georgia and Hawaii to New York—imposing secularization requirements on religious providers.
• Exemplary programs in states like Florida, Indiana, and Alabama comply with constitutional requirements by embracing faith-based providers without requiring secularization.

Policy Recommendations:

• State-Level Reform: State attorneys general should issue clear guidance to eliminate unconstitutional restrictions on religious providers in pre-K programs.
• Local Accountability: School districts must ensure that their implementation of pre-K programs aligns with state and federal constitutional requirements.
• Legal Remedies: Advocacy groups and policymakers should work to ensure compliance through litigation if necessary.

The report underscores the vital role of faith-based organizations in early childhood education and the urgent need for reform to ensure that state and local funding schemes for public pre-K programs adhere to constitutional mandates. When the government excludes religious organizations from public programs, it not only violates the constitution but also deprives families of high-quality educational options for their children. As pre-K education continues to expand, maintaining neutrality toward religion will be critical to fostering an inclusive and equitable system for all families.

Click here to read the full report.