The Supreme Court heard a verbal debate on Wednesday in a case involving the country’s first religious charter school, whether it qualifies for state funding despite religious teachings.
The case is a virtual Catholic charter school in Oklahoma, St. Isidor of Seville Catholic Virtual School, and a qualifying for public funding due to its religious teachings. Attorneys representing the school argued that it operates like a private actor working under a contract with the state and asked the Superior Court on Wednesday to overturn an early Oklahoma Supreme Court decision.
During Wednesday’s debate, St. Ice Idor’s lawyers believed that just because they received state funds did not mean they were state actors. They also pointed to recent Supreme Court precedents, which they said were in their favor.
St. Isidor lawyer James Campbell told the court that the court had "repeatedly committed" a state that violated the free exercise clause when excluding religious observers from other public welfare. ”
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Views from the U.S. Supreme Court Building. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Justice used oral debate to publicize Campbell how they treated individuals with different religious backgrounds.
“How would you use a charter school that doesn’t want to teach evolution, or it doesn’t want to teach history, including the history of slavery, or it doesn’t want to include children with another faith. Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Campbell.
“ tHis one is not saying that this will not exclude children of other faiths. But it says if you want to attend this school, you have to attend Mass. You must accept the teachings of the church on certain principles. Is that what you see? ”
In response, Campbell noted that the school did not require students to confirm their religious beliefs, noting that St. Isidor “allows exceptions to anyone who does not want to attend Mass” and said in its manual “Point Blank” that students did not require students to confirm their faith. ”
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Deputy Judge Sonia Sotomayor is in a photo of the official Supreme Court panel in Washington, D.C. on Friday, October 7, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg by Getty Images)
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter Schools Board approved a contract request for St. Isidor in June 2023 to qualify them for public funding.
However, its ability to obtain state funds was later blocked by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled that the school’s public funds violated the First Amendment establishment clause.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond argued that if state funding is obtained, the school will be a state actor. "There is no doubt that charter schools offer important educational innovations, but they have all the classic indicators of public schools," Drummond said in an early Supreme Court filing.
He believes that if its “chart law violates the terms of freedom exercise, then this is one of the most profound freedom movement violations in American history.”
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
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The court's ruling here may have a wide range of implications far beyond Oklahoma. There are currently more than 40 states authorized charter schools in the United States, and the ruling in the case may have a ripple effect across the country.
The charter school directly notes on its website that it completely “fully contains” the teachings of the Catholic Church, fully incorporates “they” into every aspect of the curriculum, and intends to “take part in the church’s evangelism.”
This is a shocking news story. Please come back as soon as possible to check the update. Anders Hagstrom of Fox News contributed to the report.