WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced Friday it will hear an Oklahoma case to decide whether the state must authorize a religious school as a public charter.
The new church-state case could yield a potentially momentous decision that could change public schools in much of the nation.
Los Angeles and other large cities have been leaders in establishing charter schools as an option for students.
They are privately-run public schools, but until now, the law has required that they may not be sectarian or affiliated with a church.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority may see this as discrimination against religion.
The appeal granted review on Friday argued that a state violates the 1st Amendment’s protection for the free exercise of religion if it excludes religious schools from its public-funded charter schools.
The court is likely to hear arguments in late April in the case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual…
