By ALEX GIMARC
April 1, 2026 – As we are well into this year’s education funding food fight, it might be time to remind legislators, candidates and other current government officeholders of an opportunity given the nation in 2020 via a Supreme Court of the opinion called Espinoza v Montana Department of Revenue.
The case centers on the use of state education money for private religious schools, something unconstitutional in Alaska. As it turns out, 37 state constitutions have similar provisions. These are referred to as Blaine Amendments, originally proposed by James G. Blaine at the federal level in 1875. It was proposed in a time of national anti-Catholic sentiment. While it never ended up as federal legislation, it made its way into 37 state constitutions, one of them Alaska.
The purpose depends entirely on your perspective. On one hand, the supporters cheerlead it as a vehicle to maintain strict separation of church and state. On the other, it is described as little more than anti-religious bigotry enshrined in state constitutions, which ended up being the rationale SCOTUS used in deciding Espinoza.
Montana had a program that used state money to fund private school scholarships. This was limited to non-religious schools, enforced by a state Department of Revenue rule. Three families whose kids would have been eligible for state education scholarships filed suit against the state. The case eventually made its way to the Montana Supreme Court which ruled against the families 5-2, tossing the entire program.
SCOTUS overruled the Montana Supreme Court, ruling the provision in the Montana state constitution was unconstitutional as it bars the use of state funds in religious schools purely on religious grounds.
Chief Justice Roberts noted that:
“A state need not subsidize private education. But once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
How does this apply to Alaska? We have the identical provision in our state constitution. We have long been allowing the use of public money in private, charter, homeschooling, and correspondence schools. Under Espinoza, those public funds ought to be able to be used at private religious schools or religious oriented education, lesson plans, and more.
The primary argument against vouchers in Alaska has been our version of the Blaine amendment. I would say that part of the state constitution is now unconstitutional.
The opportunity comes for a governor, legislature, or even group of parents to demand the state allow kids to attend privately funded religious schools. When and if the change is made, it will be roundly denounced in the strongest possible terms by everyone feeding at the state education trough. Lawsuits will fly early and often. The case will make its way through the Alaska state courts, losing at every important step of the way, up to and including the Alaska Supreme Court. It will then be appealed to federal court under the Espinoza opinion, where it will eventually win, overturning Alaska’s Blaine amendment.
If we want to improve education, the only way to do so is to put control of the money as close to those it benefits. The closer you put control of that money, the better it is spent, and the better the results for the kiddos. Private religious schools are one piece of that solution. So eventually will be vouchers.
Alaska has demonstrated that education results are completely disconnected from the amount spent per student. Indeed, we can make an argument that the connection is a negative, with massive increases in spending leading to worse results On the other hand, the closer control of education money is to the student, the better the results, which is why homeschoolers, correspondence, charter school students do so much better than those in the public schools.
An opportunity exists for the next governor, legislature, or even like-minded parents. I think we are up to the challenge. The only questions are who and when?
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
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When will Judge Adolph Zeman-Schickelgruber be notified that he can’t keep up his shenanigans?