Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Pursuit of Happiness
Published on
Apr 29, 2025
Contributors
Michael Toth
Gavin Schiffres
Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash

Religious Charter Schools Should Pass the Supreme Court Test

Contributors
Michael Toth
Michael Toth
Research Fellow
Michael Toth
Gavin Schiffres
Gavin Schiffres
Gavin Schiffres
Summary
A case from Oklahoma will determine whether American education becomes more or less centralized, homogeneous, and anticompetitive.
Summary
A case from Oklahoma will determine whether American education becomes more or less centralized, homogeneous, and anticompetitive.
Listen to this article

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.

Continue reading at National Review

10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

Becoming a Deficit Nation

Politics
May 19, 2025

Trump, Lincoln and a ‘Habeas Corpus Threat’

Constitutionalism
May 18, 2025
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Pursuit of Happiness

Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road To Four-Year College Success

Despite a relatively rich literature on the community college pathway, the research base on the quality differences between these institutions has been decidedly thin.

Scott Carrell, Michal Kurlaender
Pursuit of Happiness
Feb 7, 2025
Brains Versus Brawn: Ordinal Rank Effects in Job Training

Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?

Scott Carrell, Alexander J. Chesney
Pursuit of Happiness
Jan 28, 2025
Civic Thought: A Proposal for University-Level Civic Education

An intellectual mission in the fullest sense requires a coherent program of teaching and research in a specific and demanding discipline. This report sketches the outlines of such a program, which we call “Civic Thought.”

Benjamin Storey, Jenna Storey
Pursuit of Happiness
Dec 11, 2023
No items found.
Faculty Viewpoint Diversity: An Instant Fix

To gain the trust of wary faculty, presidents need not only to set out a firm and precise understanding of the campus environment they would like to foster, but also to back up those words with consistent and determined action.

Jenna Silber Storey, Benjamin Storey
Pursuit of Happiness
May 5, 2025
Bad News for America Doomers

Prophecies of America’s downfall conflate the United States, a people and place, with the US government.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
May 2, 2025
‘American Oasis’ Review: The Lure of the Desert

The Southwest has recently sent left-leaning senators to Washington. As more minorities move there, the region might shift to the right.

Joel Kotkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 9, 2025
How to Broaden the Academic Tent

Broadening the academic tent will not be easy. But it is not impossible.

Jenna Silber Storey, Benjamin Storey
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 8, 2025

Populism Unpacked: Voices from the Heartland

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 4, 2025
1:05

Jeff Rosen on What “The Pursuit of Happiness” Meant to America's Founders

Pursuit of Happiness
Jan 26, 2025
1:05

Arthur C. Brooks on the Pursuit of Happiness in an Unhappy World

Pursuit of Happiness
May 8, 2024
1:05

Arthur C. Brooks on The Art & Science of Getting Happier: Live at The Texas Tribune

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 29, 2024
1:05

Melissa Kearney on Two-Parent Privilege and Social Mobility

Pursuit of Happiness
Mar 18, 2024
1:05
No items found.
No items found.
Vergil: Poet Laureate of the American Founding

Vergil was a favorite of the founding generation: the source of poignant lessons, powerful language, and political inspiration.

Robert G. Natelson
Pursuit of Happiness
May 2, 2025
Dissident Blessings in the Negative World

Christian churches of all kinds have tended to stagnate when the church has been a part of the official regime.

Brian Smith
Pursuit of Happiness
May 1, 2025
When Life Becomes Unending Variations on Disease

Are we getting sicker?

Ronald W. Dworkin
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 30, 2025
The Quantum Revolution and the Human Spirit

Klavan’s book reveals what interesting times we live in—perhaps uniquely so.

Rob Koons
Pursuit of Happiness
Apr 25, 2025
No items found.