OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Although the U.S. Supreme Court has shut the door on Oklahoma’s plan to launch a taxpayer-funded religious charter school, State Superintendent Ryan Walters says he will spare no expense to keep the legal fight in favor it, and similar fights, going—so long as the religion involved is one that meets certain “criteria.”
A 4-4 deadlock decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday leaves in place a prior Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling, which said launching the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School would violate both the state and federal constitution.
It would have been the first school of its kind in the nation.
At a special-called news conference on Thursday, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said this fight in support of allowing the state to fund a religious school is nowhere close to being over.
“Citizens’ rights have been trampled,” Walters said. “The Supreme Court has got it wrong. I believe this decision is antithetical to the religious freedoms in our U.S. Constitution.”
Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond feels just the opposite.
“I’m relieved that we continue to have freedom of religion in the United States,” Drummond told News 4 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday.

United States Supreme Court decides St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School case in split 4-4 vote

Be his disagreement with the state’s top law enforcement officer, as it may, Walters says he’s going to keep pushing onward.
“We will continue to move forward to find any kind of avenue possible for this school and others like it to exist in Oklahoma,” Walters said.
News 4 asked whether he believes the legal fight will be worth the costs to Oklahoma taxpayers, Walters said, “Oh, absolutely. I don’t think you can put a price on religious liberty.”
Because the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked, it didn’t issue a formal ruling either way on the St. Isidore case.

That means, the Oklahoma State Supreme Court’s earlier decision, which found the state constitution clearly bans taxpayer funding of religious schools, gets to stay in place.

Walters sees a way around that.
“We’re also looking at a potential amendment to the state constitution,” Walters said. “We should be crystal clear that funds can be spent for religious purposes.”
The only way to amend the state constitution is through a statewide vote.

In 2016, nearly 60% of Oklahoma voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the state to fund religious institutions.
Even if voters were to reject the idea again, Walters said he would continue fighting to allow publicly-funded religious schools through other means.
“What we’ve been looking at today are: What are the other ways that we can get this back to the Supreme Court?” Walters said.
Thursday’s deadlock happened because U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney-Barrett recused herself from the St. Isidore case because she is a longtime friend of a lawyer who represented St. Isidore.

Heated exchange as SCOTUS hears arguments on nations first religious charter school

But if a similar lawsuit, potentially one from a different state, eventually reaches the court, Coney-Barrett could take part in the ruling.
Walters said he’d be open to supporting other states in such a lawsuit.

“Yes, we would,” Walters said. “I mean, if it’s a similar situation. Again, I’d need to see the specifics.”

When News 4 asked Walters whether he would support a similar lawsuit involving an Islamic charter school, Walters did not give a direct yes or no answer.

“You’re really wanting to get me on that one, aren’t you?” Walters said. “You’re really wanting to get me to answer that one. Look, in our state, it’s very clear. In our state, the criteria have to be met for you to be a charter. I’m not going to speak outside of Oklahoma, where, again, I’ve told you some states have some bizarre rules.”
He continued by saying it would depend on the state and whether the school met the kind of criteria Oklahoma looks for in charter applications, such as a track record, community support, and academic outcomes.
News 4 pressed Walters again about whether he would support an Islamic charter school in another state.

Walters said, “Well, that wouldn’t meet our criteria. So I’m going to support what would meet Oklahoma’s criteria. Our criteria has been very, you know, put together in the sense of—if you have that track record, if there’s a history there, if you had the community support. And again, we haven’t seen that here.”
In a statement Thursday, Governor Kevin Stitt echoed Walters’ calls to pursue further action and possibly bring a similar case back before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“This 4-4 tie is a non-decision,” Stitt wrote. “Now we’re in overtime. There will be another case just like this one, and Justice Barrett will break the tie. This is far from a settled issue. We are going to keep fighting for parents’ rights to instill their values in their children and against religious discrimination.”

Attorney General Drummond, who argued the case before the Oklahoma Supreme Court and led the state’s fight to stop the plan, has long-warned that allowing Oklahoma to fund one religious school could open a Pandora’s box, arguing if the state can fund one religious school, it would have to fund every religious school, including institutions like the Satanic Temple.

Drummond celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s split decision in an interview with News 4 on Thursday.

“I think it’s remarkable. It’s a great win for Oklahoma,” Drummond said. “Every family can choose when to worship, with whom to worship and how to worship, and the state will not be involved in creating religion.”

News 4 will continue to monitor whether any new cases are filed.