The Supreme Court’s Decision to Block Publicly Funded Discrimination Is A Win For Public Education

May 22, 2025

Washington, DC – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an attempt to establish the country’s first public religious charter school. In a 4-4 split, the Supreme Court’s decision in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond allows the state to reject the application of a religious institution to operate a public charter school. In April, Advancement Project, alongside Alliance for Educational Justice, Journey for Justice Alliance, and Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network, filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, urging this result.

Below is a statement from Adaku Onyeka-Crawford, director of the Opportunity to Learn program at Advancement Project:

“The Supreme Court’s decision to prevent publicly funded discrimination in schools marks a victory for the 49.6 million students who depend on public schools to remain free and open to all, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or disability. It is a rejection of efforts from billionaires to privatize public education and close schools that serve Black, working-class, and rural communities.

Unfortunately, hours before the Supreme Court’s decision, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a reconciliation bill that would create a national school voucher program and divert billions of taxpayer dollars to private schools—without any guarantee that those schools provide equal opportunity to students of color, LGBTQIA+ young people, English learners, students with disabilities, or students from Indigenous or low-income communities. We call on lawmakers at the federal and state level to build on today’s decision, reject the expansion of policies that fund private and religious schools such as school vouchers and charter schools, and invest in our neighborhood public schools instead.”