• Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
Top Stocks Insider
  • News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Investing
  • Stock
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
  • Investing
  • Stock
No Result
View All Result
Top Stocks Insider
No Result
View All Result
Home Investing

Religious Charter Schools? Let States Decide

by
June 2, 2025
in Investing
0
Religious Charter Schools? Let States Decide
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Jeffrey Miron

A critical issue for the school choice movement is how charter and voucher programs treat religious schools. Supreme Court decisions from 2002 and 2022 hold that the Constitution’s Establishment Clause does not bar religious schools from receiving government funded vouchers, as these fund students but not religious institutions directly.

In a recent 4–4 ruling, however, the US Supreme Court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s prohibition of religious charter schools. Are the two cases—vouchers versus charters—different?

Cato’s Neal McCluskey argues that this case is why vouchers are superior to charters. He posits that allowing religious charter schools entangles the government with religion, as chartering boards must decide which religious schools to approve.

This is a reasonable view; charters plausibly involve government more than vouchers.

Yet a voucher system still requires the government to determine which schools are eligible to receive vouchers: do language-immersion, STEM-only, athletics-focused, and vocational schools all qualify? Is there a state-imposed curriculum? How much time is allowed for religious studies?

The logical conclusion is that only one approach removes government completely, and that is zero funding or provision of education in any way.

Despite its libertarian purity, this approach will run into massive opposition, and not just from the left; even hardcore libertarians might be open to some government attempt to ensure all children get a basic education.

The most practical solution is to uphold federalism and leave education policy completely to the states.

Schools are lightning rods for cultural issues beyond religion, such as transgender athletes, free speech, dress codes, and curriculum. This contentiousness points to differences in schooling preferences across the country. So when the federal government dictates education policy, it imposes particular views widely, generating backlash and polarization. Instead, states should determine their policies based on their residents’ preferences.

Rather than imposing federal decisions, therefore, preferences can be reflected by diverse state policies. Individuals can “vote with their feet,” leaving a state if they cannot tolerate its education policies or prefer another state’s policy. Further, this competition creates natural experiments, testing which education policies work best.

Thus, libertarian education policy should emphasize state autonomy. This promotes liberty by preventing the federal government from imposing monolithic, polarizing policies across all citizens.

This article appeared on Substack on June 2, 2025. Tommy Seneker, a student at Harvard College, co-wrote this post.

Previous Post

Seattle’s Other Monorail: Some Lessons for California

Next Post

Trump Is Building a Bigger Deep State with the Help of “Libertarian” Peter Thiel

Next Post

Trump Is Building a Bigger Deep State with the Help of "Libertarian" Peter Thiel

    Fill Out & Get More Relevant News


    Stay ahead of the market and unlock exclusive trading insights & timely news. We value your privacy - your information is secure, and you can unsubscribe anytime. Gain an edge with hand-picked trading opportunities, stay informed with market-moving updates, and learn from expert tips & strategies.

    Disclaimer: TopStocksInsider.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively "The Company") do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Copyright © 2024 TopStocksInsider. All Rights Reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • News
    • Economy
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Investing
    • Stock

    Copyright © 2024 TopStocksInsider. All Rights Reserved.