Page 11 - Amy Carson News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

And a great education. we couldn't have asked for anything better for her. >> bible study was a part and parcel of her daily curriculum, right? that's how every day -- you can understand then someone who might be agnostic or atheist and is a taxpayer, they're watching this and saying, geez, i'm unsettled at the idea that my tax dollars are going for amy's daughter to receive religious training. and you would say what to them? >> you would only go to a school like that if that's what your beliefs were. >> right, but why should i be paying? i'm playing devil's advocate, to advance that type of e...

At my website smerconish.com where we were asking should states be required to fund religious education. here's the result. wow, how decisive was that? 93 to 7%. that's probably not the way this is going to turn out in the supreme court of the united states. the litigant that you met, amy carson, is widely expected to be successful in her battle against the state of maine. so we'll see next june or july when the court issues its opinion in that case. social media reaction from tonight's program includes this. so if i open a satattant run school in your community that met all standards, you'd b...

Charter schools? that really seems to be driving both the advocacy and concerns people have in this case. >> it certainly is not driving our advocacy, and this case certainly will not open the door to religious charter schools. charter schools, after all, are public schools. what this case is about is whether when government makes a benefit that parents -- available that parents can use at private schools, whether it can allow parents to select any private school they want, anywhere in the nation, but exclude private schools simply because they teach religion. that's the discrimination at issu...

But the supreme court is focused on a couple school said and a unique program that only exists in maine. the questions could redefine fundamental american principles like separation of church and state as well as religious liberty. you see, parts of maine are so whirled that they don't have public schools, and in that case, the state will pay tuition at private schools. that could include schools afiltiated with private religion. my next guest, amy carson, sent her daughter to her alma mater, but the state wouldn't help cover the tuition. she's one of the plaintiffs in the case and is joined b...

>> counsellor, why is that not a violation of separation of church and state? >> well, the program here isn't funding schools. it's funding families, and it's allowing families to decide whether -- where to use that money. and currently, parents can choose schools, public schools in neighboring school districts. they can choose private schools. they can choose schools in state or out of state, and the state routinely paid for kids to go to some of the most elite blue blood prep schools in the country. yet, parents can't select a jewish day school or a catholic parish school in their town, and ...