Unfortunately it’s time to talk about the Supreme Court again. Two decisions are coming soon that could have huge implications for religion in schools. This week the Court heard arguments on a case about whether parents should be allowed to exclude their children from instruction that violates their religious beliefs. Montgomery County, Maryland is one of the most affluent and religiously diverse counties in the country. The school system incorporates books in the curriculum that include LGBTQ issues and the school board would not let some parents opt their students out of those classes.
In the unusually long, two-and-a-half-hour oral arguments, a majority of the Court seemed to disagree that it would be too burdensome for the school system to allow students to opt out. But as Justice Sotomayor wondered, where do you draw the line on respecting religious beliefs in the curriculum? What about parents whose beliefs discourage wives from working? Do students opt out when that comes up on Career Day? What about more esoteric beliefs from non-mainstream religions? We will see the Court’s decision and how wide-ranging it is in June or so.
More significantly, next week the Court will hear the case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond. in which Oklahoma asks to establish a religious (Catholic) virtual charter school. This obviously violates the separation of religion and government, and more importantly violates the church-state separation clause in the Oklahoma state constitution, a conclusion upheld by the State Supreme Court. The governor supports establishing the school as does the head of the State Board of Education, prominent Christian nationalist Ryan Walters who also wanted not just a Bible but a $60 Trump Bible in every public school classroom, allegedly. So far that hasn’t happened.
The current U.S. Supreme Court has already chipped away at the prohibition on tax money going to private/religious schools, but this case would lead to numerous taxpayer-funded religious charter schools. The decision will likely come down to whether charter schools are public schools or private schools. If they are legally private schools, the Court will probably allow St. Isidore to be established with state tax money, based on recent precedents. The Secular Coalition has joined an amicus brief urging the Court to reject Oklahoma’s appeal.
The Trump Supreme Court does not always disagree among themselves or rule in favor of every conservative plaintiff. They ruled 9-0 that someone wrongly sent to and imprisoned in El Salvador had to be brought back here so he could make his case to stay. But lately the smart money is always on the plaintiff that says “My religious beliefs are being violated” or “It’s discrimination not to give us tax money like the public schools get.” You can count on a divided Supreme Court on those cases, and most likely on a win for religion. It’s a fundamental, irreconcilable conflict there.
Whether that conflict on the Supreme Court results in religious charter schools cropping up around the country remains to be seen but this Oklahoma case shows how important elections are, how important the majority in the Senate is when confirmation votes take place, and how important elections for judges are at the state and local levels.
On the subject of school curriculums and books in classrooms, here’s the link to our latest From the Intern’s Desk entry, this one on book banning. Thanks for all your help, Lindsay.
