Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools


What happened
A deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court Thursday effectively upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools. The 4-4 decision, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett recusing herself, denied St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School public funding while avoiding setting a precedent for future cases. Legal experts suggested Chief Justice John Roberts likely sided with the court's three liberal justices in the terse, unsigned ruling.
Who said what
A ruling for St. Isidore, run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and Diocese of Tulsa, would have "reshaped American education and blurred the line between church and state," allowing, "for the first time, direct and complete taxpayer funding to establish a faith-based charter school," The Washington Post said. The outcome "came as a surprise," The New York Times said, given the tenor of the oral arguments and the Roberts Court's embrace of "allowing religion a greater role in public life."
What next?
The court's one-sentence ruling was an "unsatisfying end to one of the term's most closely watched cases," The Associated Press said, but neither side in the case expected this to be the final word. "There will be another case just like this one and Justice Barrett will break the tie," Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt (R) said on social media. "This is far from a settled issue."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
Today's Big Question Backbench rebellions and broken promises: is it getting harder to govern?
-
Hotels with kitchen gardens for a foodie weekend away
The Week Recommends Feast on seasonal produce straight from the veg patch at these country retreats
-
Succession planning as the Dalai Lama turns 90
In the Spotlight China 'determined to shape the narrative' around choice of Tibet's next spiritual leader
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
'If smoke can affect health early in life, it also can affect life's end'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders