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The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in June 2024 the state’s attempt to establish a publicly funded Catholic charter school was unconstitutional. Now, the issue is before the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard arguments on April 30.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 6-2 decision blocked the launch of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School – which would have been the first publicly funded religious charter school in the U.S. The court found that approving the school violated both the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which prohibits government endorsement of religion.
"Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school," Justice James Winchester, an appointee of former Republican Gov. Frank Keating, wrote in the court's majority opinion. "As such, it must be nonsectarian. St. Isidore, by design and mission, is deeply religious".
The legal and political ripple effects of the decision stretch far beyond Oklahoma. Supporters of the school — including Gov. Kevin Stitt and prominent conservative legal groups — framed it as a matter of religious freedom. Critics, including civil rights advocates and education watchdogs, warned that publicly funding sectarian education would erode the separation between church and state that underpins public schooling in America.
However, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative justices appeared open to the idea that denying public funds to religious charter schools could violate the Free Exercise Clause, potentially overturning longstanding legal precedent
If the high court rules in favor of St. Isidore, it could pave the way for religious organizations nationwide to operate public charter schools funded by taxpayers. This would mark a major shift from decisions like Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) and even more recent rulings such as Carson v. Makin (2022), which allowed religious schools to access tuition assistance but didn’t authorize them to run public schools outright.
“This case tests the constitutional guardrails between religious liberty and government neutrality,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sued to block the school.
