The Schoolhouse Wall Between Church And State Could Face A Final And Definitive Challenge.
At Forbes, I look at how two cases could conceivably mean that religious charter schools are entitled to taxpayer dollars.
Since their creation, charter schools have been required to function as non-sectarian, secular educational institutions. There can be no such thing as a religious public charter school. Now a two-pronged legal challenge could change that.
There are two presumptions that bar taxpayer-funded charter schools from operating as religious institutions.
1) Charter schools are public schools.
2) Charter schools (because they are public schools) may not be religious schools.
Now both presumptions face a challenge.
1) Peltier v. Charter Day School, Inc.
Back in 2016, North Carolina’s Charter Day School was sued over a dress code that barred girls from wearing pants (to preserve the fragility of young women). In 2019, a federal judge ruled the dress code unconstitutional. In 2021, a U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals panel tossed out the judge’s ruling. In July of 2022, the full 4th Circuit Court reversed the panel decision.
At that point, the case headed for the Supreme Court, though they have not yet decided what they’ll do with it. They have even asked the Biden administration to chime in.
Why does a case about a dress code matter?
Because the case hinges on whether or not the charter school is a “state actor” aka an actual public school.
2) Oklahoma and St. Isidore of Seville
Last December, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor skipped ahead and issued an opinion that, given other recent Supreme Court decisions, the court would probably throw out Oklahoma’s law restricting religious charter schools.
In sum, we do not believe the U.S. Supreme Court would accept the argument that, because charter schools are considered public for various purposes, that a state should be allowed to discriminate against religiously affiliated private participants...
In other words, just because charter schools are state actors, that doesn’t mean they can’t also be religious. O’Connor’s successor Gentner Drummond withdrew his opinion, but Oklahoma’s governor, ed chief, and virtual charter board ignored Drummond and approved a religious charter anyway: the St. Isidore of Seville virtual charter, a cyber school that was proposed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City in collaboration with the Diocese of Tulsa.