In 2023, an Oklahoma board approved the nation’s first religious charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. As a charter school, St. Isidore would have been entitled to public funding, but the state Supreme Court later called it unconstitutional. You know, the whole separation of church and state thing.
Now, this church/school is hoping to bring its case before the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices have been more friendly toward Christian causes, especially if there’s a free vacation involved.
However, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up the case, arguing it should be considered a state matter. Opponents also fear that if the U.S. Supreme Court were to give the Catholic school approval, it would set a nationwide precedent for churches to start schools that receive public funds.
Given the fact that Oklahoma isn’t really a leader in education (or health care, or mental health, or public safety or anything else), the Supreme Court would be wise not to let the Sooner State set any kind of educational precedent for others to follow.
This article appears in Stitt’s Top Ten.