Supreme Court tie vote dooms taxpayer funded Catholic charter school in
Oklahoma
[May 23, 2025]
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday effectively ended a
publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma, dividing 4-4.
The outcome keeps in place an Oklahoma court decision that invalidated a
vote by a state charter school board to approve the St. Isidore of
Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the nation’s
first religious charter school. But it leaves the issue unresolved
nationally.
The one-sentence notice from the court provides an unsatisfying end to
one of the term’s most closely watched cases.
The Catholic Church in Oklahoma had wanted taxpayers to fund the online
charter school “faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ.” Opponents
warned that allowing it would blur the separation between church and
state, sap money from public schools and possibly upend the rules
governing charter schools in almost every state.
Only eight of the nine justices took part in the case. Justice Amy Coney
Barrett didn't explain her absence, but she is good friends and used to
teach with Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett, who has been an
adviser to the school.
The issue could return to the high court in the future, with the
prospect that all nine justices could participate.
The court, following its custom, did not provide a breakdown of the
votes. But during arguments last month, four conservative justices
seemed likely to side with the school, while the three liberals seemed
just as firmly on the other side.
That left Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to hold the key vote, and
suggests he went with the liberals to make the outcome 4-4.
The case came to the court amid efforts, mainly in conservative-led
states, to insert religion into public schools. Those include a
challenged Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in
classrooms and a mandate from Oklahoma’s state schools superintendent
that the Bible be placed in public school classrooms.
St. Isidore, a K-12 online school, had planned to start classes for its
first 200 enrollees last fall, with part of its mission to evangelize
its students in the Catholic faith.
A key unresolved issue is whether the school is public or private.
Charter schools are deemed public in Oklahoma and the other 45 states
and the District of Columbia where they operate. North Dakota recently
enacted legislation allowing for charter schools.
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They are free and open to all, receive state funding, abide by
antidiscrimination laws and submit to oversight of curriculum and
testing. But they also are run by independent boards that are not
part of local public school systems.
Proponents of publicly funded religious charter schools were quick
to point out that the decision was limited to Oklahoma.
“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational
choices, not fewer. While the Supreme Court’s order is disappointing
for educational freedom, the 4-4 decision does not set precedent,
allowing the court to revisit this issue in the future," said Jim
Campbell, who argued the case at the high court on behalf of
Oklahoma's charter school board. Campbell is the chief legal counsel
at Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal organization
that appears often at the court in cases on high-profile social
issues.
On the other side, the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, which are among groups
representing parents and other opponents of the school in a separate
lawsuit, applauded the outcome for preserving public education.
“The very idea of a religious public school is a constitutional
oxymoron. The Supreme Court’s ruling affirms that a religious school
can’t be a public school and a public school can’t be religious,”
said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of
Religion and Belief.
Oklahoma officials also offered differing views.
Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and state School Superintendent Ryan
Walters said the fight is far from over. “There will be another case
just like this one and Justice Barrett will break the tie,” Stitt
said.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond, also a Republican, sued to stop
the school. He called the 4-4 vote “a resounding victory for
religious liberty” that also will ensure 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.”
During arguments, Justice Samuel Alito said, “We have statement
after statement by the attorney general that reeks of hostility
toward Islam.”
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