washington – The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear an Oklahoma case to determine whether the state must recognize religious schools as public charters.
The new church-state case could lead to potentially important decisions that could change public schools in much of the country.
Los Angeles and other large cities have been leaders in establishing charter schools as an option for students.
Although they are private public schools, until now the law has required them not to be sectarian or affiliated with a church.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority may view this as discrimination against religion.
The review, granted Friday, argued that states violate First Amendment protections for the free exercise of religion when they exclude religious schools from publicly funded charter schools.
The court will likely hear arguments in late April in the case of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. St. Isidore of Drummond.
The case had a checkered history in Oklahoma. The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has applied and received initial approval to establish St. Isidore as a religious virtual charter school.
But the state attorney general and state Supreme Court said the state constitution does not authorize public funding for religious schools.
Supporters of the new school appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since 2017, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has weighed in on the court in landmark decisions arguing that churches and church-run groups may not be excluded from the public interest simply because they are religious. I have led the.
Justice opened the door for parents to send their children to religious schools in Montana and Maine.
Citing those rulings, religious right advocates say Oklahoma should grant state-funded charter status to Catholic schools.
Judge Amy Coney Barrett said she did not participate in the decision to hear the case. She didn’t explain why.
