Wilson v. Montana Office of Public Instruction resource page

News releases:  5/14/2013  |  3/26/2013  |  11/19/2012

Benefits restored to Montana's disabled children of faith

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent hearing-impaired preschooler
Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Attorney sound bites:  Jeremy Tedesco  |  Rory Gray

HELENA, Mont. — Disabled children attending faith-based schools who qualify for aid under a federal program will now be eligible to receive tuition aid in the wake of an Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuit against the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed suit against the state agency in March on behalf of a hearing-impaired preschooler. Although she qualified for benefits under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, agency officials denied tuition assistance to the child and her parents because she was enrolled in a faith-based preschool. The agency has now agreed to provide the tuition aid to her and to other qualified applicants.

“All disabled children are equally worthy of a good education. Parents should be able to choose the school that best suits their children’s needs,” said Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “Simply put, when the government provides financial help to disabled children at private schools, it cannot exclude children who attend religious ones.”
 
Montana participates in IDEA, which provides benefits to disabled children. Among the benefits is tuition aid for use at private schools. Prior to the lawsuit, Montana prohibited students from receiving tuition aid if they attended a faith-based school.

In September 2012, a four-year-old preschooler with hearing and speech impairments began attending the faith-based ABC-123 University in Columbus. The state-run Stillwater/Sweet Grass Special Services Cooperative previously agreed to pay for her schooling three days a week but later revoked the tuition aid. The cooperative cited a newly adopted statewide policy of denying tuition aid to students who attend private religious preschools for special education services.
 
In November of last year, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a complaint with the Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction on behalf of the preschooler. That led to the filing of a federal lawsuit, Wilson v. Montana Office of Public Instruction, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Billings Division.

According to the voluntary dismissal filed Monday in light of the agency’s settlement of the case, the parents of the preschooler will receive the tuition money they were owed to send their child to ABC-123 University. Also, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has agreed that it will no longer disqualify disabled children eligible for IDEA benefits from receiving tuition aid simply because they attend a faith-based school.
 
“State officials have done the right thing in recognizing that they cannot favor certain views over others and deprive disabled children of government benefits simply because of their faith,” added Litigation Counsel Rory Gray. “The First Amendment forbids that type of hostility toward religion. We hope Montana will serve as a model to encourage other states to avoid or eliminate such misguided policies.”
 
Allied attorney Matthew Monforton, one of more than 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, served as local counsel in the case.
 
  • Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-ko)
 
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
 
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Previous News Releases

Montana wrongly discriminating against disabled children of faith
Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013

Legal Documents

Complaint: Wilson v. Montana Office of Public Instruction
Voluntary dismissal: Wilson v. Montana Office of Public Instruction
Due process complaint: N.W. v. Montana Office of Public Instruction

Related Resources

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ABOUT Rory Gray

Rory Gray, Esq., serves as senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, where he plays a strategic role on the Appellate Advocacy Team. Since joining ADF in 2011, Gray has worked diligently on key cases to preserve religious freedom and free speech in America. He has served as a member of the main litigation teams in Thomas More Law Center v. Bonta, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer,Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, and Reed v. Town of Gilbert. Additionally, Gray has written briefs at all levels of federal and state courts, including an amicus brief in Newdow v. Congress of the United States, in which the Second Circuit upheld the use of the national motto, “In God We Trust,” on U.S. currency. Gray earned his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 2007. Before graduating, he completed the ADF leadership development program to become a Blackstone Fellow in 2005. After law school, Gray clerked for the Hon. Bobby R. Baldock on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit from 2007-2009 and for the Hon. G. Steven Agee on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 2009-2011. A member of the state bars of Georgia, Arizona, and Virginia, Gray is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and various appellate and trial courts.


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