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Epoch Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Key Vote Puts Texas Closer to Displaying Ten Commandments in Classrooms
The Texas Legislature cleared a major vote on May 24 on a measure that would require the state's public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. The state's Republican-majority House offered preliminary approval of the measure on Saturday, with a final vote to be held in the next few days. If passed, the bill will go to Gov. Greg Abbot's desk, who has said he would sign it into law. 'The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially,' said state Rep. Candy Noble, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill. Louisiana and Arkansas have passed similar laws, although Louisiana's law has been paused after a federal judge deemed it 'unconstitutional in every application.' The judge in the Louisiana case Those who support displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms assert they are built into the foundation of the United States' judicial and educational systems and ought to be posted. Detractors argue that the practice would violate the religious freedom of others and cited the Constitution's separation of church and state. Related Stories 5/19/2025 5/9/2025 Recently, the Supreme Court issued a 4–4 vote regarding the fate of a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. The tie vote effectively upheld an Oklahoma court decision that annulled a state charter school board vote to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. The institution would have been the nation's first religious charter school. The Texas Legislature also passed a measure that establishes a voluntary period of prayer or time to read a religious text during school hours for both students and staff. The governor is expected to sign the bill. 'We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day,' Republican state Rep. Brent Money said. 'Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have.' If passed, Texas's bill would require public schools to display in classrooms a 16-inch-by-20-inch poster or framed image of a particular English translation of the Ten Commandments. There are varying translations and interpretations of the commandments depending on different denominations, faiths, and languages. Democratic lawmakers in Texas were unsuccessful in amending the bill on Saturday to require schools to show other religious texts or offer different translations of the Ten Commandments. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amy Coney Barrett Decision Gives Libs Win in Shock SCOTUS Ruling
Oklahoma will not be able to use government money to fund a Catholic charter school, the Supreme Court ruled after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case. In Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond, the Supreme Court rejected the proposal for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School to receive direct government funding in a 4-4 split ruling on Thursday. In instances where the justices are evenly split, the lower court ruling—in this case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court—stands. 'The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court,' the one-page ruling simply said. It did not note how each justice had voted. The lower court ruled that plans to open the nation's first-ever government-funded religious charter school were prohibited by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the government from establishing a religion or favoring one faith over another. While the split means the lower-court ruling stands, it does not set a precedent for other courts across the country to follow. It was not immediately clear why Justice Coney Barrett—whom President Donald Trump appointed in 2020—recused herself from the case, which meant she did not take part in oral arguments or the final ruling. The New York Times speculated that Coney Barrett's decision could have stemmed from her close relationship with Nicole Stelle Garnett, who was previously an adviser for the Oklahoma school. Coney Barrett and Garnett worked together at the Supreme Court in the 1990s before becoming colleagues at Notre Dame Law School. Coney Barrett has fallen out of the MAGA crowd in recent months after siding with her liberal counterparts in some high-profile cases. In one of those decisions in March, she sided with the court's liberal wing to block the White House's effort to freeze almost $2 billion in foreign aid. The decision Thursday prompted some MAGA supporters to label Coney Barrett a 'DEI pick,' referring to 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.' MAGA influencer Mike Cernovich wrote: 'She is evil, chosen solely because she checked identity politics boxes... Another DEI hire. It always ends badly.' The proposed St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was set to be run by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. It would have been the first school to teach Catholicism to students while receiving taxpayer funds. The original proposal for the school was approved in June 2023; Oklahoma's Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted to approve the school in a tight 3-2 ballot after a nearly three-hour meeting. But the state's attorney general, Gentner Drummond, sued over the decision in a bid to prevent the school from opening.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Perspective: The St. Isidore stalemate is a missed opportunity in America's education wars
The Supreme Court's 4-4 deadlock in the case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School represents far more than a procedural hiccup — it's a perfect encapsulation of America's paralysis when it comes to the explosive intersection of religion, education and public funding. By splitting evenly on whether Oklahoma could fund the nation's first religious charter school, the court avoided making hard choices about fundamental constitutional principles. But this non-decision may prove more consequential than any ruling, leaving educators, policymakers and families navigating an increasingly treacherous legal landscape with no clear map. At its core, the St. Isidore case pitted two bedrock constitutional principles against each other in ways that illuminate the broader culture wars consuming American education. The proposed Catholic virtual school sought to operate as a charter school while maintaining an explicitly religious curriculum, complete with Masses, instruction on Catholic doctrine, and the freedom to hire based on religious preference. This wasn't subtle religious influence— it would be unapologetically sectarian education funded by taxpayer dollars. The school's supporters, including the Oklahoma charter school board, framed this as simple equal treatment under law. They pointed to recent Supreme Court victories where the justices ruled that states cannot exclude religious institutions from generally available public benefits solely because of their religious character. If Oklahoma already funds charter schools 'focused on science, engineering, math, fine arts, language immersion, and tribal identity,' they argued, excluding religious institutions amounts to discrimination against people of faith. This argument has gained considerable traction in recent years as conservative legal organizations have systematically challenged what they see as hostility toward religion in public life. The Supreme Court's increasingly religion-friendly approach under its conservative majority has emboldened advocates who view strict church-state separation not as constitutional principle but as anti-religious bias. For them, St. Isidore represented the next logical step: if religious institutions can receive indirect government funding through voucher programs, why not direct funding through charter school contracts? But Oklahoma's Republican attorney general, Gentner Drummond, made an equally compelling case from the opposite direction. Charter schools, he argued, are fundamentally public institutions created by state law, funded with taxpayer dollars, subject to state curriculum standards and required to serve all students regardless of background. They can be shuttered by the state for poor performance, their boards must follow open-meetings laws, and their teachers can join state retirement plans. In Drummond's view, allowing St. Isidore to proceed would create something unprecedented in American law: a government-funded Catholic school operating under direct state contract — a clear violation of the Constitution's prohibition on state-sponsored religion. The case exposed deep fractures not just between religious liberty advocates and church-state separationists, but within the school choice movement itself. Mainstream charter school advocates found themselves opposing St. Isidore, worried that mixing religion with charter schools would change what makes charters work —their identity as public schools that offer alternatives to traditional districts while staying accountable to taxpayers. Justice Amy Coney Barrett's decision not to participate — likely due to her close friendship with a school advisor — created the mathematical possibility for this deadlock, but the 4-4 split reveals something more significant about the court's internal dynamics. Legal experts speculate that Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in opposing the school, despite his authorship of pro-religious liberty opinions in recent years. If true, this suggests that even some conservative justices recognize limits to how far the pendulum should swing toward religious accommodation. The idea that the government must fund religious education represents such a dramatic departure from traditional American church-state relations that it may have pushed too far even for justices generally sympathetic to religious liberty claims. The distinction between allowing religious institutions to participate in neutral government programs and requiring the government to fund explicitly religious instruction may prove to be a bridge too far for the court's swing votes. This deadlock also highlights the complexity of defining public versus private institutions in an era of increasing public-private partnerships. Charter schools exist in a constitutional gray area —publicly funded but privately operated, subject to some state oversight but granted significant autonomy. This ambiguity, which has fueled the charter school movement's explosive growth, becomes deeply problematic when fundamental constitutional principles collide. The broader implications extend well beyond charter schools. The line between public and private becomes increasingly blurred as government partnerships with religious organizations expand across American social policy. During oral arguments, Justice Samuel Alito focused on comments made by Drummond opposing St. Isidore's application, when the attorney general noted that approving the school would mean the board would also have to approve religious charter schools operated by minority religions. Alito suggested this showed 'hostility' to certain faiths, referencing how the court had previously ruled against government officials who showed bias against religious believers. Alito also worried that if religious charter schools were deemed government entities, it could affect other faith-based services that receive government funding, like Catholic Social Services or Catholic Charities. The justices grappled with hypothetical scenarios that revealed the complexity of the issue. Justice Elena Kagan described a potential school in a Hasidic community in New York that wanted to adopt a curriculum focused on ancient religious texts, with instruction in Yiddish or Hebrew. Would New York have to approve this charter school, she wondered, even though the curriculum would be dramatically different from standard public education? The state wanted charter schools to offer flexibility, but a ruling for St. Isidore could require funding all kinds of religious schools. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's immediate response to the ruling —dismissing it as a 'non-decision' and vowing to keep fighting —signals that this issue is far from settled. 'There will be another case just like this one and Justice Barrett will break the tie,' he said in a statement. 'This is far from a settled issue.' Legal experts across the spectrum agree the question will return to the court, likely within the next few years, when Barrett will presumably participate and potentially cast the deciding vote. The stakes will be even higher then, as a definitive ruling could reshape not just education policy but the fundamental relationship between religious institutions and government funding. As one legal expert noted, if the court rules for religious charter schools, it could mean that federal law governing charter schools and virtually all state charter school laws would be unconstitutional, because they require charter schools to be non-religious. Until that moment arrives, the St. Isidore deadlock represents a missed opportunity for clarity at a crucial juncture in American education and religious liberty. The court avoided making controversial precedent, but it also left critical questions unanswered about whether America's commitment to religious pluralism requires funding religious education or whether constitutional principles demand maintaining secular public schools. The culture wars over education will continue to rage with no clear rules of engagement and no end in sight, ensuring that communities, courts, and consciences remain divided for years to come. Asma T. Uddin writes on legal issues on her Substack 'Rights & Ruminations' and on love and health on 'The Architecture of Care.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court blocks launch of nation's first public religious school
The Brief Oklahoma cannot proceed with opening the nation's first publicly funded religious school after a 4-4 Supreme Court vote. Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case, presumably because of her friendship with an adviser to the Oklahoma school. Chief Justice John Roberts likely sided with the court's liberals to block the school. A deadlocked Supreme Court blocked the creation of a publicly funded Catholic charter school in Oklahoma in a 4-4 vote. The ruling upholds an Oklahoma court decision to invalidate a vote by a state charter school board to approve the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would have been the nation's first religious charter school. But it leaves the issue unresolved nationally. The notice from the court is only one sentence with no opinion attached. Big picture view The 4-4 deadlock did not include a vote from Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who recused herself. RELATED: Supreme Court rejects Trump's Alien Enemies Act deportations She didn't explain her absence, but she is good friends with and used to teach with Notre Dame law professor Nicole Garnett, who has been an adviser to the Oklahoma school. The issue could return to the high court in the future, with the prospect that all nine justices could participate. Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and state School Superintendent Ryan Walters said the fight is far from over. "There will be another case just like this one and Justice Barrett will break the tie," Stitt said. RELATED: Supreme Court allows Trump to strip protected status for thousands of Venezuelans The court, following its custom, did not provide a breakdown of the votes. But during arguments last month, four conservative justices seemed likely to side with the school, while the three liberals seemed just as firmly on the other side. That left Chief Justice John Roberts appearing to hold the key vote, and suggests he went with the liberals to make the outcome 4-4. The backstory The Catholic Church in Oklahoma had wanted taxpayers to fund the online charter school "faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ." Opponents warned that allowing it would blur the separation between church and state, sap money from public schools and possibly upend the rules governing charter schools in almost every state. The case came to the court amid efforts, mainly in conservative-led states, to insert religion into public schools. Those include a challenged Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in classrooms and a mandate from Oklahoma's state schools superintendent that the Bible be placed in public school classrooms. St. Isidore, a K-12 online school, had planned to start classes for its first 200 enrollees last fall, with part of its mission to evangelize its students in the Catholic faith. What they're saying "Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational choices, not fewer. While the Supreme Court's order is disappointing for educational freedom, the 4-4 decision does not set precedent, allowing the court to revisit this issue in the future," said Jim Campbell, who argued the case at the high court on behalf of Oklahoma's charter school board. The other side "The very idea of a religious public school is a constitutional oxymoron. The Supreme Court's ruling affirms that a religious school can't be a public school and a public school can't be religious," said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, also a Republican, sued to stop the school. He called the 4-4 vote "a resounding victory for religious liberty" that also will ensure that "Oklahoma taxpayers will not be forced to fund radical Islamic schools, while protecting the religious rights of families to choose any school they wish for their children." Dig deeper A key unresolved issue is whether the school is public or private. Charter schools are deemed public in Oklahoma and the other 45 states and the District of Columbia where they operate. North Dakota recently enacted legislation allowing for charter schools. RELATED: Judge blocks Trump's order to shut down the Education Department They are free and open to all, receive state funding, abide by antidiscrimination laws and submit to oversight of curriculum and testing. But they also are run by independent boards that are not part of local public school systems. The Source This report includes information from The Associated Press.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Supreme Court Rules Against Religious Public Charter School, For Now
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday against allowing Oklahoma's first religious public charter school, in a case that has significant implications for religion in public life. The court ruled 4-4in Oklahoma State Charter School Board v. Drummond, after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself. The unsigned ruling offered no opinion on the merits, saying only that Justice Barrett took no part in the decision. 'The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court,' the ruling read in full. The case, which education advocates worried would pave the way for further erosion of the separation between church and state, was brought by a right-wing legal fund, which petitioned the high court to take it up after the Oklahoma supreme court stopped a Catholic church from receiving taxpayer funds to establish a religiously affiliated school. Today's decision will keep the lower court's ruling barring the school funding in place. However, it is not a permanent ruling — because the decision is a tie it simply affirms the lower court decision, the ruling is precedent only in the state of Oklahoma, meaning a case on this same topic could return to the Supreme Court at another time. In 2023, the Oklahoma State Charter School Board approved an application for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, a public charter Catholic school for kindergarten through 12th grade. But before the school could begin enrolling students, Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked the state Supreme Court to intervene. The court ruled 8-1 that the school could not be established as it would violate the constitutional separation of church and state. 'Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,' the court said in its opinion. 'As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian.' Charter schools are publicly available but privately run schools that are available for parents to choose from in nearly every state. Unlike public schools, charters have more discretion over staff and curriculum, and sometimes place more focus on certain educational goals such as language or performing arts. They also, unlike public schools, have leeway on rejecting students for space reasons. But they are still subject to federal and state oversight and are prohibited from charging tuition. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing legal organization that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, petitioned the Supreme Court to take up the case. They argued that the state was violating the Catholic church's religious freedom by not allowing it to participate in the state's school charter program. It has long been understood that under the separation of church and state included under the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution, state-funded public schools cannot have a religious affiliation. In Engel v. Vitale, a 1962 landmark ruling, the Supreme Court said that prayer in public school was unconstitutional, paving the way for similar rulings about religion in the classroom. Though the high court ruled against the plaintiffs, it has, in recent years, been friendly to claims of religious freedom from plaintiffs. During oral arguments in April, some of the conservative justices appeared to support the idea of publicly funded religious schools. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito both signaled that a religious public school would be legal because no one would be required to send their children there; it's just another option. 'No one's compelled to go,' Kavanaugh said. 'You have a choice to go to the traditional public school, or you can go to a charter school of your choice that you can obtain admittance to, or you can go to a private school.' The ruling is a setback for the conservatives who are trying to force Christianity into public schools. Oklahoma has been at the forefront of the movement: A state lawmaker in the GOP-controlled legislature has introduced a bill to require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments — following in the footsteps of Louisiana, Texas, and Missouri, which also have similar measures. Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma state superintendent of schools, attempted to mandate that every single public school in the state use the Bible in the classroom. He's currently being sued over the proposed requirement. The Supreme Court Is Officially Sick Of Donald Trump's B.S. This Supreme Court Decision Could Help The GOP Accomplish A Huge Goal Okla. Supreme Court Rules State-Funded Religious School Is Unconstitutional
