By Rachel Lazer
National President & CEO, AU
I’m thrilled to announce that today (22 May 2025) the U.S. Supreme Court blocked what
would be the nation’s first religious public school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual
School in Oklahoma.
This is a huge victory for church-state separation and public education—and I’m proud
that Americans United, with your support, played a major role both in the courts and in
the court of public opinion.
Nearly two years ago AU and our allies filed the first lawsuit against St. Isidore,
challenging this school as a violation of church-state separation and religious freedom.
We represent Oklahoma faith leaders, parents and public-school advocates who
oppose the creation of a religious public school that would indoctrinate students in one
particular religion and discriminate against students, families, and workers who don’t
adhere to the school’s religious beliefs.
Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general brought a separate lawsuit challenging the
school straight to the Oklahoma Supreme Court—which agreed with us that charter
schools are public schools. But the Shadow Network of well-funded Christian Nationalist
groups backing St. Isidore pushed this case to the U.S. Supreme Court, part of their
nationwide strategy to funnel more public dollars into religious education.
With the court’s ultra-conservative justices who are hostile to church-state separation,
we knew this would be a battle. While our legal experts filed briefs that explained the
law, we also educated the media and the public about why a religious public charter
school would be a dangerous sea change for our democracy. Our efforts were wildly
successful—our clients and our legal expertise were cited in countless national and
local media, from CNN and The New York Times to Tulsa World and The Oklahoman.
Our work demonstrably changed the national conversation around this case.
Today, even as we celebrate this victory, we’re preparing for the next round of battles.
This school was defeated by a 4–4 tie at the Supreme Court; Justice Amy Coney Barrett
had recused herself. We know the Shadow Network and their Christian Nationalist allies
won’t stop here. They almost certainly have the next religious school, the next test case
in the works—and it might be in your community or state.
They’re playing the long game, but so are we. Americans United was made for
moments like this. We’ve protected secular, inclusive public education since our
founding nearly 80 years ago. We’re leading the national campaign for a recommitment
to church-state separation. Thank you for fueling, funding, and being part of our
movement.
