Texas students rally for School Choice_GettyImages-539724026 The United States has long struggled to determine where religion fits into an ostensibly secular public education system. Given religion’s, and particularly Christianity’s, crucial cultural role within American society, and education’s fundamental role in “ transmitting ” culture from one generation to the next, these discussions will inevitably be fraught with peril. St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School’s recent petition to the Supreme Court shows America is once again grappling with the fragile boundary between religious liberty and public education. More specifically, St. Isidore School is requesting the Supreme Court take their appeal and reverse the Supreme Court of Oklahoma’s decision prohibiting religious charter schools on Establishment Clause grounds. This may, at face value, appear to be an obvious victory for religious liberty and pluralism, freeing parents, with substantial state support, to pursue an education in accordance with their values. The case of charter schools, however, is more complicated than other recent cases involving religious schools. The Free Exercise Clause prohibits our federal government from enacting laws stopping Americans from practicing religion, and the Establishment Clause prohibits it from establishing a religion. The goal of these dual clauses within the First Amendment […]

By : Markus McDowell