As President Donald Trump takes office and begins the work to rebuild America to the level of greatness it experienced under his first term in office, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to tackle several big cases this term.
According to the Associated Press, the high court will soon weigh approval for the nation's first publicly funded religious private school, which would be constructed in Oklahoma.
The high court agreed to take the case after an "Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that invalidated a state board’s approval of an application by the Catholic Church in Oklahoma to open a charter school," the AP noted.
The fact that the Supreme Court agreed to take the case is good news for those in favor of the school, as it has signaled a willingness to accept such an initiative in recent years.
The case will likely not be heard and argued until this spring, probably in April, according to court watchers.
Interestingly, Justice Amy Coney Barrett is not taking part in the case, and chose not to reveal why at this time.
The AP noted:
Last June, Oklahoma’s top court held by a 7-1 vote that a taxpayer-funded religious charter school would violate the part of the First Amendment that prohibits government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”
It added:
The decision followed a 3-2 vote in 2023 by the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board to approve an application by the archdiocese for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.
Online classes through the school were supposed to start last fall until several groups banded together to file a lawsuit that would ultimately stop the program in its tracks.
"Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school," Justice James Winchester, a Republican-appointed judge, wrote in the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority opinion. "As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian."
He added, "However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic school curriculum while sponsored by the state."
The Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian legal advocacy group representing the state board, celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to take the case.
"There’s great irony in state officials who claim to be in favor of religious liberty discriminating against St. Isidore because of its Catholic beliefs," the group's lead counsel wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other groups against the idea wrote, "The law is clear: Charter schools are public schools and must be secular and open to all students."
