The Supreme Court effectively blocks the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school
Due to the tie, a previous court ruling that the religious school cannot receive public funding stands–for now. Due to the tie, the previous court ruling that the school could not receive public funding remains in place–for the time being. The issue in the case was straightforward: Can states fund religious schools directly via their charter school programs?
Both cases involved a planned public charter school in Oklahoma that would be run by two Catholic dioceses. St. Isidore was designed to serve the “evangelizing mission” of the church. It was a public school that would be run by two Catholic dioceses. 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.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the Supreme Court’s case. The justices would have split evenly without her vote. When SCOTUS is tied, the lower court will win. It means that no precedent was set for the nation, and similar cases are likely to be heard by the Court in future. Isidore, a K-12 online school with public funding that openly taught Catholic doctrine, was created in January 2025. It raised serious constitutional questions about the separation of church and state as well as religious education in public schools. Rewire News Group reported in January 2025 that the case raised serious constitutional issues about the separation of religion and state, and the role of faith-based education in public schools.
The trial was a test balloon to see how far the Court would go in redefining the term “public education” and whether they would demolish the wall between the church and state.
The ballon didn’t fly this time, but the Court will probably try again. The separation of church and state in the U.S. remains in contention.
This article was adapted from a BlueSky thread.
