Both tax credit and voucher programs are school choice options for Minnesota. The Minnesota Supreme Court’s 1970 decision regarding bus transportation indicates that the Court distinguishes between aiding students and aiding the schools they choose to attend. Significantly, more recently the Minnesota Supreme Court elected not to review a decision of the Minnesota Court of Appeals that held that neither the state’s Compelled Support Clause nor its Blaine Amendment are violated by government programs aimed at helping students, even if those programs incidentally aid religious organizations.
Minnesota has already created school choice tax benefit programs, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the tax deduction.
Model Legislation: Education Savings Account, Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Universal Eligibility), Parental Choice Scholarship Program (Means-Tested Eligibility), Special Needs Scholarship Program, Foster Child Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship, Great Schools Tax Credit Program, Family Education Tax Credit Program