Catholic families sue Georgia scholarship over religious rights concerns

Three Catholic families filed a lawsuit Monday against a scholarship program in Georgia, contending its rules violated their religious rights. The eligibility requirements of Georgia’s Promise Scholarship Program required the families to set aside their beliefs to receive funding, the Thomas More Society said in a news release Tuesday. The program, launched by the Georgia legislature in 2024, can provide eligible families up to $6,500 per child to attend a public, private, or home school. In order for children to qualify, they must spend two consecutive semesters enrolled in a public school that the state has designated as failing.

The three families in the lawsuit contended that Georgia’s requirements violated their obligations as Catholic parents, according to the Thomas More Society. The families also filed an emergency motion in DeKalb County Superior Court asking the court for immediate action ahead of the program’s Aug. 31 application deadline.

How exactly do the program requirements affect these families? One parent, Joyce McCall, said she tried enrolling her daughter in public school, but it caused her daughter to hide her faith and feel socially isolated. A hybrid Catholic homeschool helped change her daughter’s life, she said. The scholarship’s requirements would force the family to put their son through the same public school experience, McCall insisted.

The program has provided exemptions from its requirements for military families, rising kindergarteners, and recent adoptees, according to the lawsuit. It offered no similar exemptions for families with religious objections. These families want the chance to benefit from the program like everyone else, said Nathan Loyd, an attorney at Thomas More. They want Georgia to stop punishing them for their faith, he added.

WORLD reached out to Georgia’s Promise Scholarship Program for comment, but did not immediately hear back. This story will be updated with any response received.