BREAKING: California agrees to stop penalizing Jewish children with disabilities In court-supervised settlement, state agrees to give Jewish families & schools equal access to special education funding
Ryan Colby 202-349-7219 [email protected]
WASHINGTON – The State of California agreed in federal court today to stop excluding Jewish schools from special education funding that helps children with disabilities. Orthodox Jewish parents have long sought to send their children with disabilities to Orthodox Jewish schools that would best serve their children’s needs. But California politicians banned certain special-education funding from being used at religious private schools—even though they made that funding available to families whose children attend countless non-religious private schools (even expensive, out-of-state boarding schools). In Loffman v. California Department of Education, a group of Jewish parents and schools sued to stop this unconstitutional religious discrimination and in October 2024 the Ninth Circuit federal court of appeals ruled in their favor. In today’s settlement, California and the Los Angeles Unified School District are agreeing to a court order that permanently forbids excluding Jewish children and schools.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law intended to ensure that children with disabilities receive an education that meets their unique needs. IDEA provides federal funding to states, including California, for special education programs in public schools. But public schools cannot always meet the needs of students with disabilities, so federal and state law allows some of this funding to be used at private schools that can provide this critical support. In California, however, politicians excluded religious schools from this funding program, leaving religious parents with no opportunity to find a school that best meets their child’s unique needs. This has, unfortunately, forced many religious parents of special needs children to uproot their lives and move out of state to obtain the critical support they need for their children.
Chaya and Yoni Loffman, Fedora Nick and Morris Taxon, and Sarah and Ariel Perets are Orthodox Jewish parents of children with disabilities for whom California’s public schools are not providing an adequate education. These families want the same opportunity as other families whose children with disabilities can’t be served by public schools: placement in a private school that best meets their child’s needs. Shalhevet High School and Yavneh Hebrew Academy are Jewish primary and secondary schools that offer an excellent education but were barred from providing families with state-funded special education services under California law. Becket and Teach Coalition, a project of the Orthodox Union, worked together to challenge California’s unlawful religious discrimination and ensure that these and countless other religious parents and schools can now receive equal access to special education funding—a result that, according to a recent poll, most Californians support.
Statements for media use:
Maury Litwack, Founder, EPIC Coalition:
“After decades of denying Jewish children with disabilities the crucial support they deserve, California has finally thrown in the towel. This is a triumph for religious schools, the families they serve, and for common sense across the Golden State.”
Daniel Mitzner, Director of Government Affairs, Teach Coalition:
“For too long, California has discriminated against children with disabilities simply because of their faith. This settlement puts that injustice to an end and ensures that Orthodox Jewish families can access the same disability funding as everyone else.”
Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket:
“California spent decades treating Jewish kids like second-class citizens. Today’s settlement ensures that Jewish kids with disabilities can access the resources they need and deserve—just like everyone else.”
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Ryan Colby at [email protected] or 202-349-7219.