Oklahoma case over religious virtual charter St. Isidore heads to U.S. Supreme Court after state high court orders rescission

Legislative counsel Bethany Champs told the Vermont House Education Committee on May 20 that the dispute over St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a proposed state‑sponsored religious virtual charter in Oklahoma — is now before the U.S. Supreme Court after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ordered the charter contract rescinded.

Champs, legislative counsel in the Office of Legislative Council, said the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa applied to the Oklahoma Charter School Board to create St. Isidore and that the board voted 3‑2 in October 2023 to approve a sponsorship contract that included modified language allowing the school “the right to freely exercise its religious beliefs and practices consistent with its religious protections.”

Why it matters: the Oklahoma Supreme Court concluded that the contract and state funding to operate St. Isidore would amount to state support of a religious institution in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and the Establishment Clause of the U.S.…