Conservative Supreme Court justices suggested approval for the nation’s first taxpayer-funded Catholic charter school in a landmark case that could dramatically expand religious freedom in American education.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, proposed by two Oklahoma Catholic dioceses, would offer K-12 education with an explicitly religious curriculum as a state-funded charter school.
Hundreds of families have already signed up while the school awaits the resolution of legal challenges, according to Reuters.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back against the state’s exclusion of religion during arguments, stating: “… You can’t treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as second class in the United States,” adding that excluding religious schools “seems like rank discrimination.”
Attorney James Campbell, a lawyer for the state’s charter school board that approved St. Isidore, told Justice Kavanaugh that Oklahoma already permits charter schools with specific themes, noting that only religion seemed to be off limits, the Associated Press reported.
“They’re not asking for special treatment, not asking for favoritism,” Kavanaugh concurred. “They’re just saying, ’Don’t treat us worse because we’re religious.’”
Chief Justice John Roberts challenged both sides of the argument, and will likely be the swing vote after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself without an explanation. She is a former Notre Dame Law School professor, a major supporter of publicly funded religious charter schools.
“This does strike me as a much more comprehensive involvement,” Roberts said, distinguishing it from earlier cases involving “limited state benefits, such as playground improvements, tuition and tax credits.”
The court’s three liberal justices were in uniform opposition to the charter school’s creation, with Justice Sotomayor saying, “What would you do with a charter school that doesn’t want to teach evolution? Or doesn’t want to teach history, including the history of slavery?”
In the event of a 4-4 tie, the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 6-2 ruling blocking the creation of St. Isidore would be left in place, which deemed the charter school a “governmental entity” that would violate constitutional limits on government involvement in religion.
The case has divided Oklahoma Republicans, with Governor Kevin Stitt and the Trump administration backing the school, while Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond opposes it, per Reuters.
If approved, St. Isidore would represent a significant shift in American education by becoming the first publicly funded charter school with an explicitly religious curriculum.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected by the end of June.
