Washington (AP) – supreme court We are hearing discussions about the country’s first publicly funded one on Wednesday. Religious Charter Schoolin Oklahoma.
After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that it would involve the church and the state in violation of the initial amendment, the judiciary is taking up an appeal filed by St. Isidor of the Serville Catholic Virtual School and the State Charter Schools Committee.
Judge Amy Connie Barrett rejected herself without explanation. Barrett previously taught law at Notre Dame and is close friends with Notre Dame Law Professor Nicole Garnett, a leading advocate for publicly funded religious charter schools. Without Barrett, the court’s conservative majority could find that taxpayer-funded schools were in line with a series of high court decisions that allowed public funds to flow to religious organizations. These rulings were based on another part of the initial amendment protecting religious freedom.
Liberal justice complains that these decisions dined in the separation of church and state.
The case comes to court in efforts to insert religion into public schools, primarily in conservative-led state efforts. They include the requirements for challenged Louisiana The Ten Commandments It will be posted to the classroom Mandate The Bible will be placed in public school classrooms from the Oklahoma state school supervisors.
St. Isidor, a K-12 online school, had planned to start its first 200 enrollee classes last fall.
Opponents warn of the decision that schools could take money from public schools and overturn rules governing charter schools in almost every state.
The state committee and schools are supported by a series of Republican-led states and religious and conservative groups, but the incident separates some of the Republican leaders in Oklahoma.
Governor Kevin Stitt and public leadership overseer Ryan Walters use public funds from religious schools to support them, but Attorney General Gentner Drummond opposed the idea and appealed to overturn the state commission’s approval of St. Isidor.
The key question in this case is whether the school is open or private. The charter school is open to Oklahoma and is considered to operate in 45 other states and the Columbia district.
They are free and open to all, receive state funds, adhere to anti-discrimination laws, and submit to curriculum and testing monitoring. But they are also run by independent boards that are not part of the local public school system.
Approximately 8% of American school children are enrolled in charter schools.
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