Originally published at National Catholic Register
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is backing an Oklahoma Catholic school’s bid before the U.S. Supreme Court to become the first religious charter school in the country.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School has been battling since 2023 to receive official status as a charter school in Oklahoma.
A charter school is a free, privately managed institution that receives public funding like standard public schools. The school’s opponents, led by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, have argued that the state’s funding of a religious school would violate both Oklahoma statutory and constitutional law regarding the separation of church and state.
The school last year was dealt a blow when the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against its establishment, claiming the school constituted “a governmental entity and a state actor.” The institution, a joint project between the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.
In an amicus brief this week, the USCCB argued that private schools “have long performed the function of educating students” in the United States, and that St. Isidore’s participation in the state charter program would “not make it a state
