Latest news with #St.Isidore's
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court's one-sentence order closes the door to Catholic charter school – but leaves it open for future challenges
The saga over St. Isidore of Seville, which hoped to become the nation's first religious charter school, has come to a surprising end – for now. In April 2025, Supreme Court justices heard arguments in the case from Oklahoma, which dealt with how to interpret the First Amendment's religion clauses. Proponents argued that prohibiting local public school boards from contracting with a faith-based organization would be unconstitutional because it hinders 'free exercise' of religion. Critics warned a faith-based charter would be an unconstitutional breach of the 'establishment clause,' which forbids the government from establishing an official religion or promoting particular faiths over others. Both sides anticipated a pivotal ruling. However, in an anticlimatic outcome, the Supreme Court issued a brief order May 22, 2025. The 4-4 outcome leaves a lower court judgment in place that prevented St. Isidore's from opening – but did not explain why. The Conversation U.S. asked Charles Russo, who teaches education law at the University of Dayton, to walk us through what happened. What does the order do? On its face, the Supreme Court's terse, one-sentence opinion means that Oklahoma cannot presently create and fund a Roman Catholic charter school – an online K-12 institution. However, because the Supreme Court did not address the underlying merits of the claim, it arguably leaves the door open to similar challenges in Oklahoma and elsewhere. Two items stand out as unusual here. First, the justices issued what is called a 'per curiam' opinion, which means 'by the court.' These opinions are unsigned, without any dissents – an unexpected outcome for such an important topic. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas have defended religious freedom vociferously under both the establishment and free exercise clauses, including in education. So, it would have been insightful to read their arguments about why the creation of St. Isidore would be permissible under the Establishment Clause. Second, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, without offering a reason. Many court observers suggested she did so due to her friendships with legal scholars at Notre Dame who were involved in St. Isidore's defense. Was this the expected outcome? Based on oral arguments, it was going to be a close call involving the eight justices. On the one hand, Alito and Thomas seemed to find St. Isidore's argument persuasive, as did Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Conversely, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared skeptical. The wild card, so to speak, was Chief Justice John Roberts, author of the court's three most recent opinions supporting government aid to religious schools. The first of these cases allowed assistance to enhance playground safety in a Missouri preschool facility. The second held that it was constitutional for parents sending their children to faith-based institutions to participate in Montana's educational tax credit program. The most recent ruled that Maine's tuition assistance to parents in districts lacking public secondary schools can be used at religious institutions. During oral arguments, Roberts observed that St. Isidore's creation seems like 'much more comprehensive [state] involvement' with a religious organization, compared with the previous cases expanding aid to faith-based schools. His comment left the door open to speculation over how he might vote – though, of course, because this was an unsigned opinion, we do not know. The Oklahoma case is part of to . Is this much of a setback for that movement? At this point, supporters of St. Isidore are likely left without options. The state's own Supreme Court ruling – left in place by the U.S. Supreme Court – was grounded in both its own and the federal constitutions. However, the movement to allow more government funding toward religious education continues. While the dispute over St. Isidore attempted to let Oklahoma, and perhaps other states, directly fund faith-based schools, this part of the school-choice movement has had more success with indirect forms of funding, like vouchers and tax credits. At least 17 states have already adopted various universal school choice laws, meaning families who send their children to private religious schools are eligible for such programs. Most recently, on May 3, 2025, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed the nation's largest school voucher program law into effect. The law, which sets aside US$1 billion in funding for the 2026-2027 academic year, allows parents up to about $10,500 to pay for tuition and school-related expenses at accredited non-public schools, including faith-based ones. Parents of children with disabilities can receive up to $30,000. At the federal level, supporters of a school choice bill promoting vouchers for non-public schools introduced a bill in the House of Representatives in May 2025. In sum, a key question remains over the meaning of the dispute concerning St. Isidore. There are two possible interpretations. First, the case may signal an end to the court's expanding aid to parents and students under the Establishment Clause. Second, it seems the justices were hesitant to allow funding to create what would have been the nation's first-ever charter school under the control of religious officials. Round 1 is over, but there's likely more to come. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Charles J. Russo, University of Dayton Read more: 19th-century Catholic teachings, 21st-century tech: How concerns about AI guided Pope Leo's choice of name How Jefferson and Madison's partnership – a friendship told in letters – shaped America's separation of church and state Federal judge rules that Louisiana shalt not require public schools to post the Ten Commandments Charles J. Russo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
CBS News
30-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Divided Supreme Court weighs effort to create nation's first religious charter school
Washington — The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared divided over efforts in Oklahoma to create an online Catholic charter school, a case that could open the door to public dollars flowing directly to religious schools. A ruling in favor of the school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, could lead to the country's first religious charter school and upend laws in at least 45 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the federal charter school program, all of which require charter schools to be nonsectarian, Oklahoma's Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, has warned. Eight of the nine justices are considering the case, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself. Following arguments, it seemed likely that the outcome hinges on Chief Justice John Roberts, who focused on the level of state involvement in its charter school program during the arguments. If the Supreme Court deadlocks 4-4, it would leave intact the decision of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled that the contract establishing St. Isidore's as a Catholic charter school was a violation of state and federal law. Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh appeared most sympathetic to St. Isidore's argument that excluding it from Oklahoma's charter school system unconstitutionally discriminated against the school. Kavanuagh said religious institutions can't be treated as "second class" and said keeping sectarian schools from operating charter schools, when the program is open to nonreligious private entities, seems like "rank discrimination" based on religion. "They're not asking for special treatment. They're not asking for favoritism. They're just saying don't treat us worse because we're religious," he said of the school. But the three liberal justices, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, seemed concerned that a decision allowing the religious charter school would weaken the wall between church and state. "The state is running these schools," Kagan said. Jackson said charter schools are "a creation and creature of the state." But there was some concern about how a ruling allowing St. Isidore's to be established as a religious charter school would impact the systems in other states, and specifically the level of oversight and control over them. Justice Neil Gorsuch warned such a result could lead states to impose more requirements on charter schools, such as mandating public officials to serve on their boards and boosting state involvement in their creation. "Have you thought about that boomerang effect?" he asked James Campbell, who argued on behalf of the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, which joined St. Isidore's in the case. A decision will follow the Supreme Court's three rulings in recent years that were in favor of religious plaintiffs, which all allowed public funds to be used for religious institutions. "This would really be the first time that the Supreme Court sanctions, if it rules in favor of the charter school, the direct flow of funds from the government and financial support from the government to a religious entity for religious activities," said Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who focuses on the law and religion. St. Isidore, she said, is asking the state to "quite literally establish a religious school. It's essentially making a religious school, creating an affiliation between the religious entity and the state that we haven't seen before." But backers of St. Isidore argue that its position is simply an application of those decisions and would not create any new principles. "The unifying thread is the idea that once the government decides to open up a program and to distribute benefits or to contract with people, it can't single out religious people or institutions for special disadvantage," said Richard Garnett, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who directs its Program on Church, State and Society. The formation of a Catholic charter school Oklahoma has offered charter schools within its public education system since 1999 and, like at least 44 other states and the federal charter school program, requires the institutions to be "nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations." The state has at least 30 charter schools that serve more than 50,000 students, and they received $314 million from the state and $69 million in federal funds in the 2022 to 2023 school year, according to a 2023 report from the Oklahoma State Department of Education. In January 2023, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa formed the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School Inc. for the purpose of establishing and operating St. Isidore as a Catholic school, according to court records. That May, St. Isidore applied to the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board to establish it as a virtual charter school that "fully embraces the teachings of the Catholic Church's Magisterium" and "fully incorporates these [teachings] into every aspect of the school." The school estimated initial enrollment of 500 students and projected it would receive roughly $2.7 million in state funding for its first year of operation, according to court documents. Ahead of a vote by the board, Drummond warned against approval of St. Isidore's application, and said an earlier analysis from his predecessor supporting the school could be "used as a basis for taxpayer-funded religious schools, which is exactly what [St. Isidore] seeks to become." Drummond also warned that approving St. Isidore's application to become a charter school "will create a slippery slope." "I doubt most Oklahomans would want their tax dollars to fund a religious school whose tenets are diametrically opposed to their own faith," he said. "Unfortunately, the approval of a charter school by one faith will compel the approval of charter schools by all faiths, including even those most Oklahomans would consider reprehensible and unworthy of public funding." Still, the charter school board voted 3-2 to approve St. Isidore's application, and in October 2023, it and the school entered in a contract establishing St. Isidore's as a charter school. That month, Drummond sued the board directly in the Oklahoma Supreme Court and asked it to rescind the charter contract and declare St. Isidore's establishment as a charter school unlawful. The attorney general prevailed before the state's highest court, which ruled that because St. Isidore's is a public charter school, it violated the state's requirement that those entities be nonreligious, as well as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, in part because it would "permit state spending in direct support of the religious curriculum and activities within St. Isidore." "The state will be directly funding a religious school and encouraging students to attend it," the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which split 6-2, found. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board and St. Isidore's both asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, and it agreed to do so in January. A "major breach" in the wall The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has in a string of recent decisions sided with religious families and institutions that challenged state-funded programs for excluding religious beneficiaries as violations of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. In 2017, the court said that Missouri violated the free exercise right of Trinity Lutheran Church Child Learning Center when it denied it grant funding to resurface its playground. Then, in 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that Montana could not exclude religious schools from a program providing tax credits to people who donate to scholarships for private-school students. Most recently, in 2022, the Supreme Court said Maine cannot limit a tuition assistance program to nonsectarian schools. Citing those decisions, Roberts said the programs at issue in Missouri, Montana and Maine were also creations and creatures of the state. But he also said they involved "fairly discrete" state involvement, as opposed to the "much more comprehensive involvement" of Oklahoma in funding and overseeing its charter schools. In filings with the Supreme Court, Drummond argued that the justices have drawn a clear line through those decisions: If the state offers tuition assistance that parents can direct to the school of their choosing, it cannot exclude religious private schools. But when it comes to public schools, he said, states can provide a secular education. Drummond said the Supreme Court has never held that the Constitution's Establishment Clause allows "direct aid for religious instruction in public schools," and added that creating and funding a religious public school would violate that provision of the First Amendment. "Religious education is an invaluable benefit for millions of Americans who choose it," Drummond wrote. "But our Constitution has never required the creation of religious public schools. There is no basis to change that now." He warned that if the Supreme Court rules for St. Isidore, "state funds will pour into religious public charter schools just as they do traditional public schools," and the firewall between public funds flowing to a school because of private choice versus a direct subsidy would be damaged. "A ruling for petitioners would eliminate the buffer this court has long enforced between religious instruction and public schools — including in areas where charter schools are the only or default public-school option," Drummond argued, noting that the issue is direct aid. A crucial question in the court fight is whether Oklahoma's charter schools are public schools. Drummond says they are, because the state's charter schools have to comply with anti-discrimination laws; they are free, open to all students, created and funded by the state, and are subject to government regulation and oversight regarding curriculum, testing and other issues. And because charter schools are public schools, the attorney general said they are government entities. Gregory Garre, who argued on behalf of Drummond, said that St. Isidore's is seeking special status compared to secular charter schools, because it said it can only comply with laws that are consistent with its constitutional rights as a religious school under the direction of the Catholic Church. He warned that a decision in favor of the school would render the laws in nearly all states and the federal charter school program unconstitutional because they all require charter schools to be nonsectarian. Such an outcome would "create uncertainty, confusion and disruption" for the millions of charter school students across the country. He warned that allowing religious institutions to participate in state charter school systems would open the door to more litigation over issues like who can be admitted, who can teach at the schools and over their curriculum. But lawyers for the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board and St. Isidore disagree. Backing them in the case are Oklahoma's GOP governor, Kevin Stitt, and the state superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters. The board and school said St. Isidore is a privately operated school providing free publicly funded education through a contract with the state, and the Free Exercise Clause protects its right to participate in the charter school program. "The state did not design the school. It did not create or encourage St. Isidore's religious character. It did not appoint any member of St. Isidore's board. It did not instruct the school to offer an education in the Catholic tradition. And it will not hire or supervise the school's teachers and administrators," lawyers for St. Isidore wrote in a filing. Campbell, who argued on behalf of the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board, told the justices that St. Isidore's was created not by the state, but by two Catholic organizations, and it's controlled by a privately selected board of directors. The restrictions in state law, lawyers for St. Isidore's and the charter school board said, amount to unconstitutional religious discrimination because Oklahoma is excluding religious observers from otherwise available public benefits and programs. And because the state's charter school program is neutrally administered, the Establishment Clause doesn't prevent public dollars from flowing to religious schools. "This is particularly true when private choice directs government dollars to religious schools," they said. Garnett, of Notre Dame Law School, said that public money would only go to St. Isidore if a parent made the choice to send their child to the virtual school. "If the court thinks that what Oklahoma has done is create a program that private entities are eligible to participate in, then it's straightforward to say once they do that, they can't discriminate on the basis of religion," he said. But professor Hill, like Drummond, said charter schools are public schools, and warned there's always been a line where the Supreme Court did not allow the direct flow of government funds to religious schools for religious instruction. She said the case is part of a progression that began with the Supreme Court's 2017 ruling and comes as traditional public schools are being starved of resources in many states. "The agenda has been to require, not just allow, direct government funding of religious schools in particular," she said. "Vouchers are one thing, but I do think it's a major breach in the wall of separation if the charter school wins." Barrett's recusal from the case could create a situation in which the Supreme Court renders a 4-4 decision, leaving the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling intact. She did not provide a reason for her stepping aside, though it may be because the Notre Dame Law School's Religious Liberty Clinic is representing St. Isidore. Barrett taught at Notre Dame before she was appointed to the federal bench and was an adjunct professor at the law school in 2023, according to her most recent financial disclosure report. Barrett is also close friends with Nicole Stelle Garnett, an associate dean at Notre Dame Law School who authored a paper that suggested that as a result of a June 2020 Supreme Court ruling, states with charter schools must permit religious charter schools or risk violating the Free Exercise Clause. A decision is expected by the end of June or early July.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Why this Supreme Court case could dismantle the wall between church and state in US schools
Why the Supreme Court case could reshape church-state separation in US schools The US Supreme Court is set to hear a pivotal case that could reshape the separation between church and state, a principle that has governed American public education for decades. On April 29, 2025, the Court will hear arguments in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, a case that questions whether the state must fund a Catholic charter school , despite constitutional protections against public funds being used for religious purposes. This case centers on St. Isidore's, a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma that has received approval to operate as a virtual institution. The school, rooted in Catholic doctrine, demands public funds to cover its operation costs, arguing that it is entitled to taxpayer support. The outcome of this case could set a dangerous precedent, allowing religious institutions to access public money for religious education, undermining the long-standing principle of church-state separation . First Catholic charter school in the US St. Isidore's is the first Catholic charter school ever approved in the United States. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board narrowly green-lighted the school to operate as a virtual entity, offering a fully accredited curriculum with a Catholic foundation. Unlike other charter schools that comply with state educational standards, St. Isidore's insists on adhering to Catholic teachings and requires both students and teachers to follow Catholic doctrine. As reported by Slate, the school mandates that students attend mass and receive Catholic teachings, making it a religious institution, not just an academic one. The school has now filed a claim for state funding, arguing that, under the US Constitution's First Amendment , it has the right to public money. The school's petition rests on the claim that the denial of funding violates its religious freedoms, as guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause. This issue is compounded by the Oklahoma Constitution, which explicitly prohibits the use of public funds for religious institutions. The case's broader impact on US public education As the case moves to the US Supreme Court, the consequences for the broader US education system are profound. If the Court rules in favor of St. Isidore's, it would mark a major shift in the interpretation of the First Amendment and church-state relations in public education. Historically, the US has kept public funding separate from religious schools, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to promote religious instruction. However, recent rulings have eroded that separation. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment may require public funding for religious institutions, even when the Establishment Clause would typically prohibit it. This shift in interpretation has been a growing trend over the last eight years, with the Court increasingly favoring religious freedom over the separation of church and state. As reported by Slate, conservative justices on the Court are expected to support St. Isidore's claim. 'I think it's pretty clear that at least four conservatives are ready to rule for the charter school,' said Slate's Mark Joseph Stern. The Court's decision in this case could fundamentally alter the relationship between religion and education in the US, opening the door for more religious schools to access public funds. The fight over church-state separation The case has sparked a broader debate about the role of religion in public education. Some critics argue that the US Constitution's Establishment Clause must be upheld to maintain a secular public education system, while others contend that the Free Exercise Clause grants religious institutions the right to receive state support. In addition to its potential implications for religious schools, this case comes amid other ongoing battles over educational content in US schools. The controversy over LGBTQ+ inclusion in textbooks in Maryland, for example, reflects a growing trend of challenging the boundaries of what is considered appropriate education in the public sphere. As noted by Stern, 'It's impossible to square these things,' referring to the contrasting views on indoctrination in US schools. With the Supreme Court poised to make a landmark decision, the future of public education—and the separation of church and state—hangs in the balance. For real-time updates, follow our AP SSC 10th Result 2025 Live Blog.
