WSU panelists debate public funding of religious charter schools as high court issues ruling

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Oklahoma's taxpayer-funded religious charter school bid.
• Panelists at Weber State discussed implications ahead of the court's decision.
• The debate continues on public funding for religious schools, with varied opinions shared.

OGDEN — A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Thursday blocks a bid in Oklahoma to create what would be the first taxpayer-funded religious charter school.

That doesn't mean it's a dead issue, though.

"The debate's just starting," said Jamie Renda, leader of Ogden-based Path Forward Utah and proponent of more debate on the issue.

The high court's 4-4 ruling, issued Thursday, leaves intact a lower court's decision prohibiting St. Isodore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma from tapping into public funds meant for charter schools, Reuters reported. Renda organized a panel discussion Wednesday evening on the topic at Weber State University in Ogden, not expecting a ruling from the Supreme Court so quickly.

The panelists noted many of the complicated questions underlying the debate. If the court had ruled in the matter for St. Isodore — letting it to use public funds, thus making it the first religious charter school in the country — it would have raised questions about potential requests for public money by other religious-based schools. Should they all get funding? How do you justify granting funds for one but not another?

"I can't see how we avoid an establishment clause problem," said panelist Royce Van Tassel, referencing the First Amendment provision that prohibits the federal government from favoring one religion over another. Van Tassel serves as executive director of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools.

Michael Erickson with Salt Lake City law firm Ray Quinney and Nebeker, on the other hand, said religious affiliation of a school could arguably be seen as just one more attribute to appeal to the varied interests of would-be students. Some charter schools may focus on Spanish-language instruction, while others may emphasize industrial education. "Religious focus" could be viewed as yet another category to cater to the varied interests of students.

In the Supreme Court case that inspired Wednesday's discussion, the justices were tasked with deciding whether St. Isodore should be able to tap into public charter school funding, traditionally earmarked for nonreligious institutions. The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board in 2023 voted to grant the school funding but Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond subsequently filed suit against the board to rescind the decision, according to CBS News.

Approving funding to create "a charter school by one faith will compel the approval of charter schools by all faiths, including even those most Oklahomans would consider reprehensible and unworthy of public funding," CBS quoted Drummond as saying.

School funding can be a fraught and delicate topic in Utah. The state's voucher program, for instance, which allows students to get up to $8,000 a year to cover the costs of private schools or homeschooling, faces a court challenge by foes who say the initiative dilutes public school funding.

Utah Sen. Heidi Balderree, who moderated Wednesday's discussion, said she's been watching the debate over the Oklahoma case. As chair of the Senate's Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee, "I care a lot about what happens in this case and it's going to determine how we appropriate our funds," she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Oklahoma case on April 30 and issued the unsigned ruling Thursday. The justices didn't delve into the rationale for their 4-4 vote, Reuters said.

Renda said Thursday, in the wake of the decision, that the issue is still relevant. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case and had she voted, Renda thinks she would have sided with letting St. Isodore tap into public funding. It may take another similar case to get court action on the topic, but Renda senses there would be interest in Utah if the high court were to permit public funding of religious charter schools.

"I am for an abundance of choice for parents, for students, and for innovation in education. I'm also very supportive of public schools," Renda said.

She said pastors of some Latino churches have indicated an interest in the charter school debate and the specter of public funding of religious schools. She also noted that religious entities already help the government provide a range of services — assisting immigrants, the homeless and those battling drug addiction, for instance. Path Forward Utah promotes conservative voices in minority communities.

Weber State University's Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service served as co-sponsor of the discussion along with Path Forward Utah.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related topics

Utah K-12 educationPoliticsUtahEducationWeber CountyReligion

Tim Vandenack

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Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.