SCOTUS Takes Major Church-State Separation Challenge
The issue in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School and Drummond is simple: Can states directly fund religious schools via their charter school program? The issue in both cases is a public charter school that will be run by two Catholic Dioceses. St. Isidores is a public charter school that will be run by two Catholic dioceses. Its design should reflect the spirit of the Church and its “evangelizing mission.” The school will be run by Catholic Dioceses with an explicit evangelical Catholic mission. Its supporters are seeking direct taxpayer funding, without the usual strings attached, such as complying with antidiscrimination laws. Oklahoma Supreme Court halted this plan in June 2024. It ruled that using taxpayer money to fund religious charter schools would violate the state constitution which forbids the use of public money “for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion.” But now the conservative justices get to weigh in, and they’ll likely further erode what’s left of church-state separation when it comes to public education.
The case will be argued later this spring with a decision expected sometime in the summer.
