{"id":226287,"date":"2025-03-07T07:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T12:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=226287"},"modified":"2025-02-28T08:11:57","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T13:11:57","slug":"what-is-a-charter-school-really","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/03\/what-is-a-charter-school-really\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Charter School, Really?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In April 2025, the\u00a0Supreme Court<\/a>\u00a0will hear arguments about whether the nation\u2019s first religious charter school can open in Oklahoma. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be funded by taxpayer money\u00a0but run by a local archdiocese and diocese<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The case is often discussed in terms of religion, and a decision in the school\u2019s favor could allow government dollars to directly fund faith-based charter schools nationwide. In part, the justices must decide whether the First Amendment\u2019s prohibition on government establishing religion applies to charter schools. But the answer to that question is part of an even bigger issue:\u00a0Are charters really public<\/a>\u00a0in the first place?<\/p>\n

As two\u00a0professors who study<\/a>\u00a0education law<\/a>, we believe the Supreme Court\u2019s decision will impact issues of religion and state, but could also ripple beyond \u2013 determining what basic rights students and teachers do or don\u2019t have at charter schools.<\/p>\n

Dueling arguments<\/strong><\/p>\n

In June 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore\u2019s application to open as an online K-12 school. The following year, however, the\u00a0Oklahoma high court<\/a>\u00a0ruled that the proposal was unconstitutional. The justices concluded that charter schools are public under state law, and that the First Amendment\u2019s\u00a0establishment clause<\/a>\u00a0forbids public schools from being religious. The court also found that a religious charter school would violate\u00a0Oklahoma\u2019s constitution<\/a>, which specifically forbids public money from benefiting religious organizations.<\/p>\n

On appeal, the charter school is claiming that\u00a0charter schools are private<\/a>, and so the U.S. Constitution\u2019s establishment clause does not apply.<\/p>\n

Moreover, St. Isidore argues that if charter schools are private, the state\u2019s prohibition on religious charters violates the First Amendment\u2019s\u00a0free exercise clause<\/a>, which bars the government from limiting \u201cthe free exercise\u201d of religion. Previous Supreme Court cases have found that states cannot prevent private religious entities from participating in generally available government programs\u00a0solely because they are religious<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In other words, while St. Isidore\u2019s critics argue that opening a religious charter school would violate the First Amendment, its supporters claim the exact opposite: that forbidding religious charter schools would violate the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

Are charters public?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The question of whether an institution is public or private turns on a legal concept known as the \u201cstate action doctrine<\/a>.\u201d This principle provides that the government must follow the Constitution, while private entities do not have to. For example, unlike students in public schools, students in private schools do not have the constitutional right to due process\u00a0for suspensions and expulsions<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 procedures to ensure fairness before taking disciplinary action.<\/p>\n

Charter schools have some characteristics of both public and private institutions. Like traditional public schools, they are\u00a0government-funded, free and open to all students<\/a>. However, like private schools, they are\u00a0free from many laws<\/a>\u00a0that apply to public schools, and they are\u00a0independently run<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because of charters\u2019 hybrid nature,\u00a0courts have had a hard time<\/a>\u00a0determining whether they should be considered public for legal purposes. Many charter schools are\u00a0overseen by private corporations with privately appointed boards<\/a>, and it is unclear whether these private entities are state actors. Two federal circuit courts have reached different conclusions.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Caviness v. Horizon Learning Center<\/a>, a case from 2010, the 9th Circuit held that an Arizona charter school corporation was not a state actor for employment purposes. Therefore, the board did not have to provide a teacher due process before firing him. The court reasoned that the corporation was a private actor that contracted with the state to provide educational services.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the 4th Circuit ruled in 2022 that a North Carolina charter school board was a state actor under\u00a0the equal protection clause<\/a>\u00a0of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this case,\u00a0Peltier v. Charter Day School<\/a>, students challenged the dress code requirement that female students wear skirts because they were considered \u201cfragile vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court first reasoned that the board was a state actor because North Carolina had delegated its constitutional duty to provide education. The court observed that the charter school\u2019s dress code was an inappropriate sex-based classification, and that school officials engaged in harmful gender stereotyping, violating the equal protection clause.<\/p>\n

If the Supreme Court sides with St. Isidore \u2013\u00a0as many analysts think is likely<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 then all private charter corporations might be considered nonstate actors for the purposes of religion.<\/p>\n

But the stakes are even greater than that. State action involves more than just religion. Indeed, teachers and students in private schools do not have the constitutional rights related to free speech, search and seizure, due process and equal protection. In other words, if charter schools are not considered \u201cstate actors,\u201d charter students and teachers may eventually shed constitutional rights \u201cat the schoolhouse gate<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amtrak: An alternate route?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When courts have held that charter schools are not public in state law, some legislatures have made changes\u00a0to categorize them as public<\/a>. For example, California passed a law to clarify that charter school students have\u00a0the same due process rights<\/a>\u00a0as traditional public school students after\u00a0a court ruled otherwise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Likewise, we believe states looking to clear up charter schools\u2019 ambiguous state actor status under the Constitution can amend their laws. As we explain in a recent\u00a0legal article<\/a>, a 1995 Supreme Court case involving Amtrak illustrates how this can be done.<\/p>\n

Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation<\/a>\u00a0arose when Amtrak rejected a billboard ad for being political. The advertiser sued, arguing that the corporation had violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Since private organizations are not required to protect free speech rights, the case hinged on whether Amtrak qualified as a government agency.<\/p>\n

The court ruled in the plaintiff\u2019s favor, reasoning that Amtrak was a government actor because it was created by special law, served important governmental objectives, and its board members were appointed by the government.<\/p>\n

Courts have applied this ruling in other instances. For example, the 10th Circuit Court ruled in 2016 that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children\u00a0was a governmental agency<\/a>\u00a0and therefore was required to abide by the Fourth Amendment\u2019s protection from unreasonable search and seizure.<\/p>\n

Currently, we believe charter schools fail the test set out in the Amtrak decision. Charter schools do serve the governmental purpose of providing educational choice for students. However, charter school corporations are not created by special law. They also fall short because most have independent boards instead of members who are appointed and removed by government officials.<\/p>\n

However, we would argue that\u00a0states can amend their laws<\/a>\u00a0to comply with Lebron\u2019s standard, ensuring that charter schools are public or state actors for constitutional purposes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Originally published in The Conversation.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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