Every parent knows how important it is to find the right school for their child. A great education can make the difference between children who graduate ready to chase their dreams and children who feel left behind, lacking the skills to reach their potential. For Jewish parents like us, there is the added, profound desire to raise our son in the traditions of our own parents and community.
When we learned that our three-year-old son had autism, we knew that finding the right school would be hard. But we were confident that with the right help and resources, our son could thrive.
Unfortunately, California politicians disagree. When public schools fail to meet the needs of students with disabilities, the federal and state funding for that student can be redirected to private schools that are better able to accommodate their disabilities. But while California lets secular private schools receive these funds, it completely excludes religious private schools, simply because they are religious. And because the therapies that help children with special needs are so expensive, California’s unequal treatment stops religious parents like us from placing their children in schools that both follow their faith and support their unique needs. California is putting us to an unfair choice: pay the exorbitant costs necessary to give our son the help he needs out of pocket or abandon our religious obligation to educate him in the Jewish tradition.
In the end, we could not deny our son the Jewish upbringing that G-d has tasked us with providing him. Jewish law is clear: we are commanded to educate our son in the Jewish tradition. So, we pay out-of-pocket for 26 hours of therapy per week, but were forced to discontinue our son’s speech therapy because the mounting expenses were too much to bear.
The federal government is well aware of the barriers preventing children with disabilities from receiving an education. That’s precisely why the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed: to help these kids receive the education they deserve. But California politicians have made a different determination. They argue that only kids at non-religious schools deserve an education tailored to their specific needs. Apparently, when you walk through the doors of a school with a religious mission, your disability is supposed to disappear.
With the help of our attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, we sued California last year because we believe that what it is doing is not just wrong, but illegal: states cannot penalize people for their religious beliefs. We are hopeful that our arguments at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 7 helped the court to see California’s law for the injustice it is.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks once wrote, “If you want to save the Jewish future, you have to build Jewish day schools – there is no other way.” For my husband and me, alongside thousands of Jews in California, that sentiment rings true. Only Jewish day schools can properly transmit the Jewish tradition to our children. California should give them the opportunity to do so for children with disabilities. It would be a stretch to say that the entire Jewish future rests on the outcome of our lawsuit, but the Jewish future of our son just might, and that’s why we have no choice but to fight until our rights are secured alongside those of all parents in California. We hope and pray that future arrives soon.
Chaya and Yoni Loffman are Jewish parents of two children and reside in the Los Angeles area.
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