Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, two cases when taken together that could upend the separation of church and state and profoundly undercut public education across the country.
The paired cases center on the potential opening of the country’s first religious charter school – a Catholic virtual school – and have pitted Oklahoma state officials (all Republicans) against one another.
AFT joined with several labor unions and public education organizations in filing an amicus brief in support of the Oklahoma attorney general’s opposition to using public dollars to fund religious charter schools.
The Oklahoma Charter Schools Act explicitly bars publicly funded charter schools from being affiliated with a religious institution, but in 2023, the state’s Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, has argued the school violates both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions. Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the same.
Interestingly, now that the case has risen to the Supreme Court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett has recused herself from this case without explanation, though there’s speculation her recusal may be related to her friendship with a law school professor affiliated with the school. Her absence from the proceedings does set up the possibility of a 4-4 ruling, which would leave the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s ruling intact.
The Trump Administration has filed a brief in support of St. Isidore.
“Religious schools should be able to operate in the U.S., but they are not public schools, and they shouldn’t be able to get the benefits and the funding yet ignore the obligations and responsibilities,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a statement. “Our hope is that the justices will uphold the Supreme Court of Oklahoma’s decision, correctly siding with religious pluralism over sectarianism.
“A reversal would be a devastating blow to public education and the 90% of young people who rely on it. We must preserve and nurture the roots of our democracy, not tear up its very foundations.”
U.S. Congress Considers Forcing Through National Voucher Funding
As seismic as this ruling could be for public education, it is only one worrisome development at the federal level. Spurred by the Trump Administration and by the recent passage of Gov. Greg Abbott’s universal private school voucher program, there is growing support among congressional Republicans for the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a national voucher scam.
The bill would dedicate $10 billion per year from the federal budget to fund vouchers nationwide. If it approves the bill – on its own or as part of the budget reconciliation package – Congress would override the will of states and voters who have rejected these proposals already.
The National Coalition for Public Education has a helpful breakdown of what’s included in the legislation and the potential problems it creates. Five Texas representatives have signed as co-sponsors to the legislation:
- Rep. Dan Crenshaw
- Rep. Randy Weber
- Rep. Pete Sessions
- Rep. Brian Babin
- Rep. Nathaniel Moran
Now is the time to write your U.S. representative and tell them, with certainty, that you oppose a national voucher scam that defies the will of voters & undermines our public schools. Send a letter with AFT here.