Columbus, OH – The Buckeye Institute joined a coalition of 38 nationally recognized policy and education groups in filing an amicus brief in Michigan v. DeVos. The brief called on the court to allow money from the CARES Act to be distributed fairly and equitably to serve all students and help all schools safely reopen as outlined in the U.S. Department of Education’s rule issued on June 25, 2020.

“Every student in every school across the nation has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and all schools need help to safely reopen and navigate the current health crisis,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute’s Legal Center. “The U.S. Department of Education’s guidance on how to distribute taxpayer-funded assistance is not only consistent with the CARES Act, it is the right thing to do to ensure schools can safely reopen and students can safely return to the classroom.”

Several states and public school districts filed suit to challenge the U.S. Department of Education’s commonsense rule, claiming that taxpayer-funded assistance should not be allocated to provide “equitable services” to “students and teachers in non-public schools” as called for in the CARES Act.

The brief was filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on July 29, 2020. The coalition brief was led by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

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UPDATE: August 26, 2020, the United States District Court Northern District of California granted the state of Michigan’s request for a preliminary injunction.