Faith leaders, educators and parents turned out in Tulsa Wednesday morning to protest taxpayer funded religious schools.
The interfaith group of less than 20 people stood behind a lectern at Tulsa’s Fellowship Congregational Church while holding signs that said, “Public schools are not Sunday schools,” and, “No public funds for religious indoctrination.”
“We believe that our country’s promise of the separation of church and state means that our public schools must remain free from religious indoctrination and open to all students,” Reverend Chris Moore of Fellowship Congregational Church said.
St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was originally blocked from becoming the country’s first religious public charter school by the Oklahoma Supreme Court last year.
But today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments.
Erika Wright, founder of the Oklahoma Rural Schools Coalition, said a ruling favoring St. Isidore will not be good for rural schools.
“Religious public charter schools won’t benefit rural communities,” Wright said. “It’s quite the opposite actually. They’ll harm them by siphoning off the precious state resources our rural schools desperately need to survive.”
More than 65% of vouchers used for “school choice” went to families making more than $75,000 a year. Oklahoma’s median income is roughly $60,000 a year.
Eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices will hear the case. Justice Amy Coney Barrett has recused herself due to ties to St. Isidore. If the case deadlocks four to four, then the Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruling would stand.
A decision on the case is expected by the end of June.
