Final week, the USA Supreme Courtroom introduced it could hear arguments in a case on the constitutionality of spiritual constitution faculties. That very subject was featured in a panel dialogue at a convention final fall hosted by the Program on Training Coverage and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard College, the video of which may be seen above.
The litigation over non secular constitution faculties started in Oklahoma in 2022, when the Archdiocese of Oklahoma Metropolis utilized to the state’s Constitution Faculty Board to open St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Digital Constitution Faculty. The applying was initially authorized by the board, however newly elected state Lawyer Basic Gentner Drummond tried to rescind the approval a yr later, a dispute that ultimately landed with the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom. Final June, that physique backed Drummond in a 6–2 resolution, ruling that Oklahoma’s structure doesn’t permit the appropriation of public cash for faculties with an overtly non secular mission of instruction.
Training Subsequent’s Joshua Dunn famous the shaky constitutional floor on which the Oklahoma resolution stood based mostly on latest precedent in related circumstances concerning the Free Train clause of the First Modification, and he presciently surmised that the matter would rise once more earlier than the federal excessive court docket. That it now has is much less stunning than the haste with which the Supreme Courtroom has agreed to listen to the case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Digital Constitution Faculty v. Drummond, and it might be a sign that the Roberts Courtroom is leaning towards overturning the Oklahoma resolution. As Thomas B. Fordham Institute president Michael Petrilli argues, a ruling that compels states to permit non secular constitution faculties would have huge implications on the constitution sector and faculty alternative typically.
The organizers of the Harvard convention, Rising Faculty Fashions: Sustaining the Momentum, acknowledged the timeliness of the controversy over non secular constitution faculties final yr and welcomed a trio of students for a panel dialogue that wrestled with their constitutionality. Paul E. Peterson, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Authorities and PEPG director, moderated a vigorous dialog with Martha Area of Harvard Regulation Faculty, Mike Moreland of Villanova, and William Jeynes of California State College Lengthy Seaside. The session is on the market to view above or right here on YouTube.