The U.S. Supreme Court is set to take up a case that advocates warn could flip disability rights on its head.
The high court will hear arguments next week in a matter known as St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. The case was brought by The Archdiocese of Denver, Catholic schools and parents in Colorado who took issue with requirements in the state’s universal preschool program.
While religious schools can participate in the publicly funded program, they must agree not to discriminate against families based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, among other factors. The Catholic schools sued arguing that the protections for LGBTQ families violate their religious beliefs.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
To support their claim, the schools pointed to some exemptions to the equal opportunity mandate within the universal preschool program. One of the exemptions they cited is a preference within the algorithm that matches students with schools to ensure that students with disabilities receive the services called for in their individualized education programs, or IEPs.
“The (Colorado Department of Early Childhood) consistently treats the mandate not as a strict obligation, but as a flexible provision that allows it to take into consideration all kinds of other important interests (e.g., helping kids with disabilities and prioritizing historically discriminated against communities), while nevertheless refusing to accommodate sincere religious exercise,” the Catholic schools said in their petition to the Supreme Court.
At issue in the case is whether states can impose requirements on private religious schools that receive public money or whether such stipulations infringe on the First Amendment rights of those schools.
But, disability advocates say that if the Supreme Court sides with the Catholic schools it could seriously compromise disability rights. That’s because the Catholic schools are essentially arguing that Colorado’s effort to ensure students with disabilities have equal opportunity discriminates against students without disabilities.
“The law guarantees people with disabilities things like special education, reasonable accommodations and accessible infrastructure in order to guarantee us an equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of society which people without disabilities automatically enjoy,” said Peter Talkington, a staff attorney at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, or DREDF. “If the Supreme Court agrees with the Catholic schools, disability rights like special education, reasonable accommodations and accessible infrastructure can be challenged as ‘discrimination’ against people without disabilities, erasing decades of disability progress.”
DREDF and 12 other disability advocacy organizations filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to reject the Catholic schools’ argument. In it, they say that the IEP preference in the universal preschool program “merely ensures conformity with” the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Colorado’s interest in providing equal opportunity.
“Disability laws recognize that students with disabilities may need accommodations or services that other students don’t. A student who uses a wheelchair may need a lift to board a school bus that other students can enter using stairs. Another student may need assistive technology, specialized instruction or related services. Providing those supports allows students with disabilities to access the same educational opportunities as their peers,” said Shira Wakschlag, senior executive officer for legal advocacy and general counsel at The Arc of the United States, which participated in the amicus brief. “Treating those measures as preferential treatment would misunderstand a basic principle of disability law.”
A decision in the case is not expected until next year.
