CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada is fighting back against a legal challenge that would dismantle the state's broad new school choice program.
The Nevada Attorney General's Office responded Monday to a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging Education Savings Accounts. The program allows parents to claim a portion of their child's per-pupil state education funding and use it toward education expenses such as private school tuition.
The suit filed in August asserts that the new law violates a portion of the Nevada Constitution that bans using public funds for sectarian purposes.
Nevada is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, saying the program doesn't provide money to religious schools but to parents, who can choose to use it at a religious school or elsewhere.
Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement is assisting Nevada.