nepc.colorado.edu
Avoiding the Supreme Court’s Religious Charter-School Trap: Governance Change for the New Legal Era
Forty-six states and the District of Columbia permit charter schools to open, and 33 states plus D.C. allow independently governed charter schools that the Supreme Court may soon declare to be non-state actors not bound by constitutional obligations. This could create major legal tensions, as states may be unable to exclude religious charter schools from public funding while also losing the ability to enforce constitutional protections against discrimination and government establishment of religion. The issue stems from the Supreme Court’s increasing willingness to require states to fund religious institutions on equal terms with secular ones, potentially opening the door to publicly funded religious charter schools. States with independently governed charters could face heightened constitutional risk, while those with district-governed charter systems may be better positioned to preserve charter schools’ public character and oversight. The Appendix appears underneath the policy brief below. Suggested Citation: Welner, K.G., Burris, C.C., & Green, P.C. (2026). Avoiding the Supreme Court’s religious charter-school trap: Governance change for the new legal era. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved [date], from http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/religious-charters
