Supreme Court Signals Support for Allowing Nation’s First Public Religious Charter School
Amajority of U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled their support for allowing the establishment of the country’s first public religious charter school on Wednesday.
The matter first came to fruition in fall 2023, when the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board entered into a contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. According to The Federalist Society, the agreement made the latter the “first religious public virtual charter school in the nation.”
This prompted Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, to sue the Statewide Charter School Board in the state Supreme Court, in which he alleged that the board’s sponsorship of St. Isidore is “unlawful” because “Oklahoma’s Constitution disallows sectarian control of its public schools and the support of sectarian practices — indirect or otherwise.” The Sooner State’s high court agreed with Drummond, nullifying the contract on the grounds that it violated the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause.
The Trump Justice Department filed an amicus brief with SCOTUS in support of the school last month. U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer represented the administration during oral arguments before the high court on Wednesday.
St. Isidore is seeking the votes of at least five justices to overturn the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision — an objective made more difficult by Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s recusal from the case. Should the justices deadlock in a 4-4 vote, the Oklahoma high court’s ruling would stand. (Read more from “Supreme Court Signals Support for Allowing Nation’s First Public Religious Charter School” HERE)
