A Vermont Christian school is taking the state to federal court over a new education law it says unfairly targets religious private schools. Mid Vermont Christian School argues that the 2025 law creates a “religious gerrymander” that keeps religious schools from receiving public tuition funds. The school has asked a federal court to add this challenge to an existing lawsuit it filed in 2023.
The original lawsuit came after the school was banned from state athletics for forfeiting a game against a team with a transgender player. A federal appeals court later sided with the school, allowing it to participate in sports again. Now, the school and several families want to challenge Act 73, a broad education reform law signed by Governor Phil Scott. They say the law excludes all private religious schools from public tuition benefits on purpose.
Under Vermont’s public tuition system, families in areas without certain public schools can use public money to pay for their children to attend public or approved private schools. But the new law requires private schools to meet specific rules to qualify. Schools must be in districts that do not operate public schools for some grades and must have had at least 25% of their students funded by public tuition in the previous year. These rules leave only 18 private schools eligible for public funding, cutting off many religious schools.
Mid Vermont Christian School claims this 25% rule is arbitrary and was designed to exclude religious schools. Their court papers accuse lawmakers of trying to work around recent court rulings, like the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Carson v. Makin, which found it unconstitutional for Maine to deny public tuition funds based on religion. That ruling had led to more public funding for religious schools in Vermont in recent years.
The school’s lawyers, from the conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom, say the law unfairly keeps religious families from benefits available to others. The lawsuit names Vermont Education Secretary Zoie Saunders, the State Board of Education, and the Vermont Principals’ Association as defendants. Vermont’s education agency declined to comment, but the state attorney general’s office will defend the law.
Legal experts say it will be tough for the school to prove lawmakers intended to target religious schools specifically. Before the court can rule on the new challenge, it must decide whether to add it to the original lawsuit, which the state plans to oppose.
This case highlights ongoing debates about public funding for religious schools and efforts by states to balance fairness with legal restrictions. The outcome could affect not only Mid Vermont Christian School but other religious schools in Vermont facing similar funding roadblocks.