WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s justices blocked the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school on May 22, reigniting ongoing debates about the separation of church and state in the United States.
The justices’ split 4-4 decision meant a lower court ruling would stand. It also revived questions among parents about whether taxpayer money should be used to support nontraditional schools.
The vast majority of American students attend traditional public K-12 schools. However, since the pandemic spurred frustration with school closures, many states have adopted measures supporting alternatives. Between 2010 and 2021, public charter school enrollment more than doubled, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Read more: Why parents who moved kids to alternative schools amid pandemic are keeping them there
Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has made expanding school choice a top priority. Although he has pushed for major cuts to other educational programs, his proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2026 includes an additional $60 million in federal funding to expand charter schools across the United States.
Read more: Trump signs executive order bolstering school choice
Here’s what to know about charter schools and how they differ from other types of schools.
What are public charter schools?
The National Center for Education Statistics defines a public charter school as a type of “publicly funded school that is typically governed by a group or organization under a legislative contract – a charter – with the state, the district, or another entity.”
Charter schools are privately managed, usually by nonprofits, but sometimes by for-profit groups. They are tuition-free.
First established in the 1990s in Minnesota, charter schools are mostly exempt from the rules and regulations that school boards and state legislatures mandate traditional public schools follow. They were largely created to avoid red tape and provide educational alternatives to families.
Supporters of charter schools say they give parents more choice and promote competition that ultimately improves all schools in a region. Opponents say they divert needed funds from traditional public schools while skirting important accountability rules.
Are private schools different from charter schools?
Public schools aren’t the same thing as charter schools. But all charter schools are publicly funded.
Private schools, on the other hand, fall into an entirely separate category. Unlike charter schools and traditional public schools, they require tuition from most students and don’t receive most of their funding from taxpayers.
Can charter schools promote religion?
While private schools are sometimes headed by religious orders, charter schools have always been secular. That changed when Oklahoma’s Virtual Charter School Board in 2023 approved an application from the Catholic Church to create a religious charter school.
The decision prompted a lawsuit from critics, who said the Constitution prohibits public dollars from being used to support religious education.
The case evenly divided the Supreme Court’s justices, who issued a one-sentence decision on Thursday upholding a lower court’s ruling to block the Catholic Church’s request.
Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about charter schools after the Supreme Court ruling
