The Tie Goes to School Choice? Public Funding of Parochial Schools After the Drummond Deadlock

In May 2025, a deadlocked US Supreme Court left in place an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling barring faith-based schools from eligibility in the state’s charter school program. Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond (consolidated with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond) carries no precedential weight because it finished in a 4–4 split after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself, with no opinions published on either side. In other words, religious charter schools are blocked in Oklahoma but remain a legal possibility elsewhere.

The Drummond nondecision raises broader questions about the future of religious liberty in government-administered education and underscores the urgent need for clarity as charter schools—and school choice more broadly—expand nationwide. We expect to see this issue arise again when a purple state that hasn’t supported universal school choice authorizes religious charter schools and is sued. That case could determine whether religious liberty and educational opportunity are truly available to all families. This brief report provides a sketch of the legal landscape surrounding the public funding of parochial schools.

Continue reading the entire piece here at AEI

______________________

Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute. Tim Rosenberger is a legal fellow at the Manhattan Institute. 

Photo by Johner Images/Getty Images