Supreme Court to Hear Cases on Religious Preschools and Magnet Admissions

The Supreme Court will hear two disputes over public education policies. One asks whether Colorado may require Catholic preschools to follow nondiscrimination rules, including serving children with same-sex parents, as a condition of participating in its publicly funded pre-K program. The other concerns Asian American families’ challenge to Montgomery County, Maryland’s lottery-based admissions policy for four STEM magnet middle schools, which they say disadvantages their children; the district says the policy is race-neutral and was adopted during the pandemic. The court will consider what evidence plaintiffs must provide to bring a discrimination lawsuit, rather than directly deciding whether the admissions policy is unconstitutional. Together, the cases address the boundaries between religious liberty and antidiscrimination requirements, and between school diversity efforts and equal-protection challenges.