Charter schools are private entities. They are businesses first and foremost, not schools. Calling them “public” does not make them public in any way, shape, or form. They also remain private in character whether they are considered secular or religious, or non-profit or for-profit.
As private organizations, charter schools have no valid claim to public funds. Thus, for example, to assert that a secular charter school can receive public funds but a religious charter school cannot is to promote confusion.
The main reason charter schools are labelled “public” is to fool the gullible and to justify funneling billions of dollars a year from under-funded traditional public schools to privately-operated charter schools.
Last year, on May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) delivered a 4-4 split ruling on the landmark case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School v. Drummond, which originated in Oklahoma. The split decision left intact the lower court’s decision (in Oklahoma) that blocked the establishment of the online K-12 religious charter school. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the case due to her connection to forces promoting the creation of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School. In all likelihood, she will now preside over similar cases, probably swinging the vote in favor of permitting publicly-funded religious charter schools. A full bench bodes well for sectarian forces.
In recent weeks, the news has been filled with reports of new attempts to establish religious charter schools in different states, including, most notably, a Jewish online charter school in Oklahoma. To no one’s surprise, The Journal Record reported on February 11, 2026, that, “An Oklahoma state board on Monday rejected a proposal to open a Jewish charter school, likely restarting a legal fight over public funding of religious education.” Many religious and secular forces have opposed the creation of such a school as well. The case is expected to reach the SCOTUS.
According to EdWeek, the online religious charter school “projects opening in the fall of 2026 with 500 students and state funding of $2.6 million, growing to 1,500 students and funding of $8.3 million by 2030.” This means a loss of $11 million for traditional public schools. The real figure is likely higher.
The core issue in such cases is determining whether charter schools are public or private entities. If they are public, then a certain logic follows. If they are private, a different logic follows. It is thus key to sort out this fundamental issue.
It is important to recognize and grasp that, unlike public schools, charter schools are created by unelected private persons, cannot levy taxes, avoid many laws and regulations, treat teachers as “at-will” employees, are mostly deunionized, and routinely cherry-pick students. These are just some of the major differences between public schools and charter schools.
To be sure, unlike public schools, charter schools are not state actors. They are not political subdivisions of the state. Nor are they considered government agencies or natural components of state public education systems. They are simply not set up like that under state laws. Charter schools, importantly, are not created by the State even though they may be delegated certain functions by the State. Creation and delegation are not synonymous.
To further elaborate, charter schools are performance-based contracts entered into by two distinct parties: a private organization and the government (or government-sanctioned entity). Naturally, partnering with the government is not the same as being part of the government. This is an important distinction in State Action Doctrine. Charter schools are not an arm of the government like traditional public schools are. They are not acting on behalf of a governmental body. Nor do they act with the same authority as the government. Interestingly, the appearance of the word “charter” before “school” is one of the many ways charter schools are distinguished from traditional public schools.
Precisely because they are private entities, various provisions of the U.S. Constitution do not apply to charter schools. Many private actions are not subject to constitutional scrutiny under State Action Doctrine. Certain constitutional standards do not apply to acts of private persons or entities. Constitutional standards apply mainly to the States and their subdivisions (like cities, counties, and school districts). Thus, as deregulated private actors, charter schools are generally not subject to liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1983,[4] while traditional public schools are.
As in last year’s landmark case of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School v. Drummond, the SCOTUS will likely promote confusion about the “publicness”/”privateness” of charter schools. But in the final analysis, the main principle guiding such matters is: no public funds for private entities.
The post No Public Funds for Secular or Religious Charter Schools appeared first on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Shawgi Tell.