‘Wisconsin v. Yoder’ Anniversary is Today, How Religion Defeated the State

Back on May 15th 1972, a ruling came down about three Amish fathers took on the state of Wisconsin and won. This legal case made it's way to the Supreme Court, and changed a state's schooling rules. Britannica 

So here's how this went down. Three Amish father's pulled their kids out of school at the ages of 14 and 15 years old. In accordance with their religious beliefs, they refused to enroll their children after they completed the 8th grade.

The State of Wisconsin required kids to be enrolled in school until the age of 16. The three father's were in fact found guilty of this, and in 1972 were fined five bucks. Circuit court upheld the charges against the fathers, saying it was a “reasonable and constitutional” use of government power. But things went even bigger...

This legal case made it's way to the Supreme Court, and on May 15th 1972, the Supreme Court found that the Wisconsin law violated the First Amendment’s free exercise of religion clause.

This ruling changed things not only in Wisconsin, but everywhere.

Since Wisconsin v. Yoder, all states must grant the Old Order Amish the right to establish their own schools (should they choose) or to withdraw from public institutions after completing eighth grade. Wiki 

So with that, states cannot force individuals to attend school when it violates their First Amendment rights. This allows for parents to educated their kids outside of the traditional schooling. Homeschooling.