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Republicans have been going mad lately, trying to find ways to force taxpayers to pay for (Christian) religious indoctrination in some way or another, in the hope that the very conservative US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Carson v. Makin — which found, horrifically enough, that Maine’s requirement that school vouchers only be used for secular schools violated the free exercise clause — means it will be allowed.
Well, not in Oklahoma! At least not this time!
The state’s supreme court — which, with four justices appointed by Democrats, is actually more balanced than the Supreme Court of the United States — blocked on Tuesday what would have been the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school.
Last year, the state’s Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved an application from the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.
Six of the justices found that this violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which it very obviously does, while two dissented in part or entirely and one was recused. This should not have been a hard decision, since the state taking money and funneling it into a Catholic school where children would be taught catechism along with their regular studies is very obviously and blatantly unconstitutional.
“Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” Justice James R. Winter, an appointee of former Republican Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating, wrote in the majority opinion. “As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian. However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic faith as part of its school curriculum while sponsored by the State. This State’s establishment of a religious charter school violates Oklahoma statutes, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Establishment Clause. St. Isidore cannot justify its creation by invoking Free Exercise rights as a religious entity.”
It’s not that hard! Although the Archdiocese was not too happy about it.
“Today’s ruling is very disappointing for the hundreds of prospective students and their families from across the state of Oklahoma who desired the educational experience and promise of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. We will consider all legal options and remain steadfast in our belief that St. Isidore would have and could still be a valuable asset to students, regardless of socioeconomic, race or faith backgrounds,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.
There’s no reason to deny that a lot of non-Catholic families absolutely do send their non-Catholic kids to Catholic parochial schools, because of the high quality and rigor of the education (my parents wanted me to go, but I refused) and the fact that they cost less than most secular private schools. The Jesuits, especially, are often excellent teachers and it’s hardly as though anyone (at Jesuit schools anyway) is being taught that the earth is 6,000 years old.
But though that may be the case, it still doesn’t mean that taxpayers should subsidize it, because then they would have to subsidize the schools that do teach kids the earth was 6,000 years old and Jesus palled around with dinosaurs — and that is not a thing that benefits us as a society. Which, you know, is why we pay for public schooling in the first place.
The case is likely to be appealed, particularly since the conservative majority on the Supreme Court of the United States has signaled so strongly that they are very open to using public funds for religious indoctrination. Other states have made moves as well, recently, passing or trying to pass laws requiring the display of the Ten Commandments or allowing Christian groups to come in and “teach kids about the Bible.”
But for now, at least, the state of Oklahoma will not be funding any religious charter schools, and that’s certainly a step in the right direction.
On that happy note, have an OPEN THREAD.
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