Religious Charter Schools Should Pass the Supreme Court Test

On Wednesday, the United States Supreme Court will consider whether St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School will become the nation’s first religious charter school. Squaring off against the school at the high court is Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a law-and-order Republican, who has argued that his state’s prohibition against public aid for sectarian schools is justified to prevent “extreme sects of the Muslim faith” from using public tax dollars to teach sharia law. Proponents of educational freedom should reject such fearmongering. A ruling against St. Isidore would be a significant blow to charter schools of all stripes, particularly in underserved communities in most need of choice.

The policy standing in the way of St. Isidore’s charter dates back to the discredited “Blaine amendment” movement. Named after their proponent, a 19th-century Maine politician and diplomat, Blaine laws make it illegal for public aid to go to religious organizations. Animated by anti-Catholic bias, 37 states amended their constitutions to include “no aid” provisions, with many, including Oklahoma, adopting Blaine provisions as a condition for their admission to the United States.

Blaine laws have since fallen into disfavor. Oklahoma’s governor, the state’s charter school board, the state superintendent of schools, and two former Oklahoma attorneys generals have all weighed in for St. Isidore. So have several U.S. senators, led by Oklahoma’s James Lankford. The Trump Justice Department filed a brief in favor of the school, building on a 2020 opinion from the first Trump DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that the exclusion of “sectarian” schools from federal charter school programs is unconstitutional. Newly confirmed Trump administration Solicitor General John Sauer will share argument time on Wednesday with the lawyers arguing for the constitutionality of faith-based charter schools.

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