Supreme Court case for first Catholic charter school begins oral arguments

CNA Staff, Mar 6, 2025 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

A Catholic charter school is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to approve the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school in a case that could reshape school choice and religious freedom in the U.S.

In an opening brief filed on Wednesday, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a Catholic charter school managed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma — maintained that it is religious discrimination for the state to withhold generally available funding solely because the school is religious.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court previously ordered Oklahoma’s charter school board to rescind the contract with St. Isidore in June, citing the First Amendment’s prohibition of laws that would establish a state religion.

Shortly after, both St. Isidore and the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board filed separate petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2024.

In the opening briefs, St. Isidore and the school board maintained that if the state is going to offer general funding for private charter organizations, it cannot deny that funding to a charter school on the basis of religion. 

“The First Amendment protects St. Isidore from discriminatory state laws that would bar it from participating in that program or receiving funding solely because the school it has designed is religious,” read the brief filed by the Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, a teaching law practice that trains Notre Dame law students.

The attorneys pointed out that Oklahoma designed the program “to foster educational diversity through privately designed and operated charter schools … but Oklahoma denies that opportunity to religious entities solely because they are religious.” 

In a similar vein, the charter school board argued on Wednesday that the Oklahoma Supreme Court decision was a “distortion of the First Amendment” that “would have devastating effects on religious organizations,” according to the opening brief filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit that defends First Amendment rights. 

“Faith-based groups often provide vital public services in which they partner with the government or are subject to government regulation,” the brief read. “Yet under the decision below, many of these organizations would be deemed state actors disqualified from providing broad-ranging social services — including foster care, adoption services, medical care, homeless shelters, and other aid to disadvantaged communities.”

Isidore was initially approved to be a charter school by the state board in 2023, but Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit against the board, arguing the establishment violated the state’s religious liberty protections.

Drummond opposed the charter school’s petitions to the Supreme Court last year, maintaining that having a Catholic charter school is a “clear-cut First Amendment violation,” according to a Dec. 9 press release.

Nicole Stelle Garnett, John P. Murphy Foundation professor of law at Notre Dame, said St. Isidore is asking the Supreme Court to uphold its “basic right against religious discrimination.”

“States routinely partner with faith-based organizations to serve the public — whether by providing education, shelter, food, health care, you name it,” Garnett said. “The Supreme Court has repeatedly made clear that the government may not offer support to private groups like these and then deny that opportunity to organizations based on their religion.”

Oklahoma ranked 49th in education in the U.S. in 2024, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, with 84% of its eighth graders testing “not proficient” in math and 76% of its fourth graders “not proficient” in reading.

Michael Scaperlanda, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and chairman of St. Isidore’s Board, noted that the archdiocese wanted to improve educational access for Oklahomans. 

“Too many children in Oklahoma — particularly in remote and rural communities — don’t have robust learning opportunities or access to schools that may serve their children’s individual needs,” Scaperlanda said in a March 6 statement. “We want to help fill that gap by offering an excellent, Catholic education to all interested families across the state, regardless of their zip code, their income, or any other circumstance.” 

“All children deserve to thrive in an environment that fits them, and we hope to help make that a reality,” Scaperlanda added. 

There are more than 30 privately operated charter schools in Oklahoma. John Meiser, director of Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic, lauded Oklahoma’s endeavor to “foster educational pluralism” and “create a diversity of learning options for all children” but noted that this must be open to all.  

“That is a great endeavor. But bedrock constitutional law is clear: Oklahoma cannot invite any and all educators to participate in it except those who happen to be religious,” Meiser said. 

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 30, with a decision expected this summer. 

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262597/arguments-open-for-us-supreme-court-case-for-first-catholic-charter-school