Supreme Court rules Oklahoma cannot have publicly funded religious charter schools

The Supreme Court came to a split decision on the matter of a Catholic charter school case Thursday, leaving in place a lower court’s decision to block public funding from the Oklahoma school.

The one-page ruling did not specify how the justices ruled, but did say that Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, resulting in the 4-4 split. Per Politico, Barrett has ties to a Notre Dame Law School clinic that advised the Catholic school. With the split decision, a conservative-leaning justice likely sided with the liberal-leaning justices. 

The case centered around the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been run by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. The school would have been the nation’s first religious public charter school. Opponents claimed that state funding for the school would violate the Constitution, while supporters said that there have been multiple cases ruled on by the Supreme Court in recent years in which the high court allowed or required states to fund private religious institutions on par with secular ones.

St. Isidore’s board said in a statement Thursday on the ruling, "We are disappointed that the Oklahoma State Supreme Court’s decision was upheld in a 4-4 decision without explanation."

"We remain firm in our commitment to offering an outstanding education to families and students across the state of Oklahoma. In light of this ruling, we are exploring other options for offering a virtual Catholic education to all persons in the state."

Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a statement, "This 4-4 tie is a non-decision. Now we’re in overtime. There will be another case just like this one and Justice Barrett will break the tie. This is far from a settled issue. We are going to keep fighting for parents’ rights to instill their values in their children and against religious discrimination."

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who urged the courts to reverse the approval to open the school, 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."