Ryan Walters, a controversial right-wing Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools, has openly challenged the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. He pushed Oklahoma to become the first state to allocate state tax dollars to a private religious school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, despite warnings from the state’s Attorney General that it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently ruled against Walters, agreeing with the Attorney General that funding a religious school with taxpayer money establishes religion, which is unconstitutional. Walters may seek to appeal this decision to the US Supreme Court, aiming to overturn decades of precedent and advance a Christian nationalist agenda in public education, similar to efforts seen in the realm of abortion rights.
OK Supreme Court Strikes Down State Funding for Religious Schools
< 1 min read
