Latest news with #religiouscharterschool
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court to weigh nation's first religious charter school: What's at stake in blockbuster case?
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider whether the Catholic Church in Oklahoma can run the nation's first religious charter school, a potentially major expansion of the use of taxpayer money for religious education. The court's decision is expected to turn on whether charter schools – which are publicly funded but have private operators – are public schools under the law. If they are, religious charter schools could violate the Constitution's prohibition on the government backing a religion. If they're not, prohibiting the church from participating in the state's charter school program could be discrimination under the Constitution's promise that Americans can practice religion freely. In recent cases where those dual aspects of the First Amendment have been in tension, the Supreme Court came down on the side of protecting religious exercise, blurring the line separating church and state. Here's what you need to know about one of the most high-profile cases the court is deciding this term. More: Supreme Court hears arguments on blockbuster religious charter school case: live updates Charter schools are tuition-free schools funded through taxpayer dollars but run independently of local school boards. They have more flexibility in how they operate than traditional schools. Oklahoma's 30 charter schools educated about 7% of the state's public-school students during the 2022-2023 school year. Nationally, there are more than 8,000 charter schools serving nearly 3.8 million students, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Yes. In 2002, the Supreme Court said taxpayer dollars could be used to help parents pay for tuition at private religious schools. One of the justices who dissented in that 5-4 decision, now-retired Justice David Souter, called the scale of public assistance to religious schools approved by the court 'unprecedented.' And vouchers cover only a portion of the cost of a private school. Oklahoma provides vouchers up to $7,500 for parents to send their children to private schools of their choice, including religious ones. More: Will claims of anti-Catholic bias prove pivotal in blockbuster Supreme Court case? In a trio of cases since 2017, the court has allowed taxpayer funds to flow to religious organizations. Most recently, the court said Maine couldn't exclude religious schools from an indirect aid program based on the schools' religious use of the funds. "The state pays tuition for certain students at private schools – so long as the schools are not religious," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in 2022 for the 6-3 majority of conservative justices. "That is discrimination against religion." In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court was continuing 'to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the framers fought to build. She expressed 'growing concern for where this court will lead us next.' The Catholic Church's two diocese in Oklahoma formed a nonprofit corporation called St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School, Inc. In 2023, the nonprofit applied to participate in Oklahoma's charter school program. The school projected an initial enrollment of 500 students. More: Pride puppies and a charter school: a look at the blockbuster religion cases at the Supreme Court The K-12 school would be open to all Oklahomans who want a 'robust Catholic education' that includes teaching 'Catholic faith and morals.' Students would be required to attend two all-school masses, though exemptions are available. The state's governing body for charter schools voted 3-2 to approve the church's application. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the governing body, arguing the charter school board's contract with the church's nonprofit corporation was illegal. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 6-2 last year that charter schools are public schools and state law requires public education to be secular. The court also said a Catholic charter school would violate the federal Constitution's clause aimed at keeping religion separate from government. Dig deeper Will claims of anti-Catholic bias prove pivotal in blockbuster Supreme Court case? Both the state's charter school board and the nonprofit created by the Catholic dioceses asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in. The court consolidated the two appeals into one case although both the school board and the school are represented by different attorneys who will each get to speak during the oral arguments. Oklahoma's governor and attorney general – both Republicans – are on opposite sides of the issue. Drummond, the attorney general, has said allowing the Catholic charter school would 'open the floodgates and force taxpayers to fund all manner of religious indoctrination, including radical Islam or even the Church of Satan.' Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has criticized what he says is Drummond's 'open hostility against religion.' Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department changed its position that charter schools act like government entities. The court granted Trump's solicitor general time during the oral arguments to make its case that Oklahoma can't bar religious charter schools. The court is deciding whether the state's charter schools are 'public,' which would allow the state to say they can't be religious. They are also deciding whether Oklahoma can reject religious charter schools without violating American's constitutional right to practice their religion. The church and the Oklahoma governing body that backed their proposed virtual charter school argue that charter schools aren't 'public,' because that terms applies only to the fact that charter schools are free to students and funded through taxpayer dollars. Charter schools retain enough independence from the state to keep it from being a government entity, they say. And once the state allowed private entities to operate charter schools, blocking the Catholic Church from doing so would unconstitutionally discriminate against religion. Because no student has to attend the school, the government is not imposing religion on anyone, they argue. Drummond, the Oklahoma attorney general, says charter schools are public in any ordinary sense of the word. They are created and funded by the state, are heavily regulated by the state, have to follow anti-discrimination laws, are free and open to all students and their teachers can join state retirement and insurance plans. That's why 46 states, including Oklahoma, and the federal government define charter schools as public schools, Drummond says. If Oklahoma's requirement that charter schools be both public and nonsectarian is unconstitutional, he argues, then so are everyone else's – a result that would create 'chaos and confusion for millions of charter-school students.' The Oklahoma attorney general, says the nation's founders were justifiably concerned about the government giving an official stamp of approval to religion. And keeping religious instruction out of public schools – a uniquely influential environment − helps promote tolerance for different political and religious views, Drummond argues. St. Isidore and the charter school board say opening up the program to religious schools will expand educational choices, especially for low-income families. If the Supreme Court sides with St. Isidore, thousands of Catholic and other religious schools across the nation could transform into charter schools, according to Michael Petrilli, the president of the Fordham Institute, a right-leaning think tank. How many convert, however, will depend in part on what rules they would have to follow, such as whether they could exclude LGBTQ+ students or staff. 'The Court − if it finds that states must allow religious schools − will need to spell all this out,' Petrilli wrote. 'If not, these questions are likely to be litigated for years to come.' The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools sees the case as an 'existential threat not just to the fabric of public charter schools, but to their continued existence.' If charter schools are considered private, not public, that would jeopardize the funding of charter schools in states that ban public funding for private schools, they told the Supreme Court in a filing. 'Unable or unwilling to sponsor private charter schools, some states may decide to place charter schools under the type of uniform, top-down oversight that stifled public school innovation in the first place,' the association wrote. Because Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, a 4-4 deadlock is possible. That would mean the state supreme court's decision rejecting religious charter schools would remain. Barrett did not give a reason for her recusal. But she's close friends with the Notre Dame Law School professor who was an early legal adviser to St. Isidore. Pride puppies and a charter school A look at the blockbuster religion cases at the Supreme Court A decision is expected by summer. The court is also deciding whether parents with religious objections can request that their children be excused from class when books with LGBTQ+ characters are being used. And they're deciding whether a Wisconsin Catholic charitable organization should be exempt from state unemployment taxes. During both oral arguments, the court appeared likely to side with the religious groups. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about Supreme Court case on religious charter schools
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
US Supreme Court blocks public funding for Oklahoma religious charter schools
The state of Oklahoma may not direct public state funding to what was set to be the nation's first religious charter school after the US Supreme Court deadlocked over the case. The justices were evenly split, voting 4-4 in a ruling on Thursday. The tie affirms a lower ruling from the Oklahoma State Supreme Court, which found the effort to establish the school violates the US Oklahoma school board had approved the founding of a charter school run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa that would have received roughly $23.3m (£18.7m) in state funding over five years.A charter school is funded by taxpayers but independently managed. The US Supreme Court's ruling is not considered a country-wide precedent and the justices could accept future cases related to the court does not reveal how the justices voted, though they appeared split along ideological lines during an April hearing. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was appointed by US President Donald Trump as one of the court's conservative justices, recused herself from the case. She did not provide a reason. The announcement also did not come with a formal opinion - only a single page that read: "The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court."Court watchers viewed the case as a test of the US Constitution's religious 1st Amendment prohibits the government from taking any action to establish a dominant religion. Taxpayer funds, such as those earmarked for public schools, have long been considered off limits to religious two sides of the case presented dueling views of religious Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, had sued the board to force it to rescind the school's charter. He welcomed the court's decision in a statement on Thursday. He had long criticised the school as illegal and said it opened the state to having to fund other kinds of religious schools. "The Supreme Court's decision represents a resounding victory for religious liberty and for the foundational principles that have guided our nation since its founding," he said. "This ruling ensures that Oklahoma taxpayers will not be forced to fund radical Islamic schools, while protecting the religious rights of families to choose any school they wish for their children."The school, however, had argued that denying it charter funding as a Christian institution amounted to discrimination on basis of religion. The BBC has contacted the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City for comment. St Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic Charter School aimed to provide online instruction that incorporated religious teachings for about 500 students from kindergarten through high school. The Oklahoma State Virtual Charter School Board's 2023 decision to approve the school's application for charter status was met with almost immediate Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, welcomed the approval, but Mr Drummond, the attorney general, condemned it and ultimately filed a lawsuit. Charter schools make up a small fraction of the US school system. They have gained prominence in recent years as rallying point for some conservatives, who advocate for expanding charter schools as a means of giving parents more control over their children's pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, has sought to reduce federal support for public schools and expand support for charter and private ones.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US supreme court blocks religious charter school in split ruling
The US supreme court on Thursday blocked a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major case involving religious rights in American education. The 4-4 ruling left intact a lower court's decision that blocked the establishment of St Isidore of Seville Catholic virtual school. The lower court found that the proposed school would violate the US constitution's first amendment limits on government involvement in religion. Conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, leaving eight justices rather than the full slate of nine to decide the outcome. Barrett is a former professor at Notre Dame Law School, which represents the school's organizers. When the supreme court is evenly divided, the lower court's decision stands. The justices did not provide a rationale for their action in the unsigned ruling. Set up as alternatives to traditional public schools, charter schools typically operate under private management and often feature small class sizes, innovative teaching styles or a particular academic focus. Charter schools are considered public schools under Oklahoma law and draw funding from the state government. St Isidore, planned as a joint effort by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa, would offer virtual learning from kindergarten through high school. Its plan to integrate religion into its curriculum would make it the first religious charter school in the United States. The proposed school has never been operational amid legal challenges to its establishment. The case explored the tension between the two religion clauses of the US constitution's first amendment. Its 'establishment clause' prohibits the government from establishing or endorsing any particular religion or promoting religion over nonreligion. Its 'free exercise' clause protects the right to practice one's religion freely, without government interference. Oklahoma's Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, sued in October 2023 to block St Isidore in a legal action filed at the Oklahoma supreme court, saying he was duty bound to 'prevent the type of state-funded religion that Oklahoma's constitutional framers and the founders of our country sought to prevent.' Republican Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt backed the proposed school, as did Donald Trump's administration. Opponents have said religious charter schools would force taxpayers to support religious indoctrination. Establishing them also could undermine nondiscrimination principles, they argued, because religious charter schools might seek to bar employees who do not adhere to doctrinal teachings. Organizers estimated in 2023 that St Isidore would cost Oklahoma taxpayers up to $25.7m over its first five years in operation. The Oklahoma charter school board in June 2023 approved the plan to create St Isidore in a 3-2 vote. Oklahoma's top court in a 6-2 ruling last year blocked the school. It classified St Isidore as a 'governmental entity' that would act as 'a surrogate of the state in providing free public education as any other state-sponsored charter school'. That court decided that the proposal ran afoul of the establishment clause. The first amendment generally constrains the government but not private entities. St Isidore, the court wrote, would 'require students to spend time in religious instruction and activities, as well as permit state spending in direct support of the religious curriculum and activities within St Isidore – all in violation of the establishment clause'. School board officials and St Isidore argued in supreme court papers that the Oklahoma court erred by deeming St Isidore an arm of the government rather than a private organization. They argued that the government had not delegated a state duty to St Isidore merely by contracting with it, and that the school would function largely independently of the government. They also argued that Oklahoma's refusal to establish St Isidore as a charter school solely because it is religious is discrimination under the first amendment's free exercise clause. The supreme court has recognized broader religious rights in a series of rulings in recent years. It ruled in a Missouri case in 2017 that churches and other religious entities cannot be flatly denied public money based on their religious status – even in states whose constitutions explicitly ban such funding. In 2020, it endorsed Montana tax credits that helped pay for students to attend religious schools. In 2022, it backed two Christian families in their challenge to Maine's tuition-assistance program that had excluded private religious schools.
CNN
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court deadlock leaves in place ruling blocking nation's first religious charter school
The Supreme Court split evenly Thursday in a high-profile challenge over the nation's first religious charter school, leaving in place a ruling from Oklahoma's top court that found the proposed Catholic school unconstitutional. The 4-4 split was made possible because conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case. Though she did not explain her decision, the former University of Notre Dame law professor had multiple ties to the attorneys representing the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. This story is breaking and will be updated.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Split US Supreme Court blocks taxpayer-funded religious charter school
WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major case involving religious rights in American education. The 4-4 ruling left intact a lower court's decision that blocked the establishment of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The lower court found that the proposed school would violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment limits on government involvement in religion. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, leaving eight justices rather than the full slate of nine to decide the outcome. Barrett is a former professor at Notre Dame Law School, which represents the school's organizers. When the Supreme Court is evenly divided, the lower court's decision stands. The justices did not provide a rationale for their action in the unsigned ruling. Set up as alternatives to traditional public schools, charter schools typically operate under private management and often feature small class sizes, innovative teaching styles or a particular academic focus. Charter schools are considered public schools under Oklahoma law and draw funding from the state government. St. Isidore, planned as a joint effort by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa, would offer virtual learning from kindergarten through high school. Its plan to integrate religion into its curriculum would make it the first religious charter school in the United States. The proposed school has never been operational amid legal challenges to its establishment. The case explored the tension between the two religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. Its "establishment clause" prohibits the government from establishing or endorsing any particular religion or promoting religion over nonreligion. Its "free exercise" clause protects the right to practice one's religion freely, without government interference. Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued in October 2023 to block St. Isidore in a legal action filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court, saying he was duty bound to "prevent the type of state-funded religion that Oklahoma's constitutional framers and the founders of our country sought to prevent." Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt backed the proposed school, as did Republican President Donald Trump's administration. Opponents have said religious charter schools would force taxpayers to support religious indoctrination. Establishing them also could undermine nondiscrimination principles, they argued, because religious charter schools might seek to bar employees who do not adhere to doctrinal teachings. Organizers estimated in 2023 that St. Isidore would cost Oklahoma taxpayers up to $25.7 million over its first five years in operation. The Oklahoma charter school board in June 2023 approved the plan to create St. Isidore in a 3-2 vote. Oklahoma's top court in a 6-2 ruling last year blocked the school. It classified St. Isidore as a "governmental entity" that would act as "a surrogate of the state in providing free public education as any other state-sponsored charter school." That court decided that the proposal ran afoul of the establishment clause. The First Amendment generally constrains the government but not private entities. St. Isidore, the court wrote, would "require students to spend time in religious instruction and activities, as well as permit state spending in direct support of the religious curriculum and activities within St. Isidore - all in violation of the establishment clause." School board officials and St. Isidore argued in Supreme Court papers that the Oklahoma court erred by deeming St. Isidore an arm of the government rather than a private organization. They argued that the government had not delegated a state duty to St. Isidore merely by contracting with it, and that the school would function largely independently of the government. They also argued that Oklahoma's refusal to establish St. Isidore as a charter school solely because it is religious is discrimination under First Amendment's free exercise clause. The Supreme Court has recognized broader religious rights in a series of rulings in recent years. It ruled in a Missouri case in 2017 that churches and other religious entities cannot be flatly denied public money based on their religious status - even in states whose constitutions explicitly ban such funding. In 2020, it endorsed Montana tax credits that helped pay for students to attend religious schools. In 2022, it backed two Christian families in their challenge to Maine's tuition-assistance program that had excluded private religious schools.
