Christian charter school in TN gets support from AG, education reform advocates

Tennessee may soon become the first state to officially fund a Christian public charter school.

The Wilberforce Academy of Knoxville filed a lawsuit against the Knox County school board Nov. 30, arguing it has a right to establish a religious and publicly funded charter school.

Like many states, Tennessee currently requires charter schools to be nonreligious and nonsectarian.

But Wilberforce Academy’s lawsuit argues such a restriction amounts to religious discrimination and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution. And Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti agrees.

In a recent opinion, Skrmetti wrote it is “likely” the nonsectarian charter requirement violates the First Amendment.

Because charter schools are run by private organizations – albeit with government oversight – Skrmetti explained, “Tennessee’s public charter schools are not government entities for constitutional purposes and may assert free exercise rights.” 

“The Tennessee program’s exclusion of religious charter school sponsors and its bar on religious operation of charter schools likely violate the Free Exercise Clause,” he concluded. “Both provisions prohibit otherwise qualified religious entities from participating in the charter school program, while allowing similarly situated non-religious entities to do so.” 

If it wins its case, Wilberforce Academy plans to open for the 2027-28 school year and educate K-8 students in an “unapologetically Christian” manner, emphasizing civics and entrepreneurship. 

Its staff would be required to be Christian, but students of all faiths and backgrounds would be admitted. 

Earlier this year, a similar case regarding a Catholic school from Oklahoma went to the Supreme Court. Because of Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s recusal, a 4-4 decision left the question open for further debate. 

“The Court’s failure to resolve this issue left in place an Oklahoma state supreme court ruling striking down a Catholic charter school as a violation of state and federal law,” wrote Conservative education group Defending Education in a statement of support for Wilberforce. “Without the resolution of that question, other religious organizations across the country seeking to provide educational opportunities for children in their states lack clarity on whether or not they may move forward with charter school applications. 

“… Defending Education is excited to support the litigation of the Wilberforce Academy and its efforts to enhance equal educational opportunities in Tennessee and beyond.” 

Tennessee isn’t the only state where education leaders are knocking on the religious charter door again. 

The Ben Gamla Charter School Foundation is trying to open a Jewish charter school in Oklahoma, and a Colorado Christian school is also challenging the stigma against publicly funded religious education. 

“The prior decision shows that there’s an open question here that needs to be resolved,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and representative of the Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation. 

“We hope the court will get it right this time. We hope the federal courts get it right without having to go to the Supreme Court.” 

Three recent Supreme Court cases – all of which were cited by Wilberforce Academy and Skrmetti – have already paved the way for religious schools to receive public funding.  

The cases were:   

• Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer, where a church operating a licensed daycare applied for a state grant to purchase recycled tires to surface playgrounds and was denied because of its religious nature. Trinity argued its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated by religious discrimination and won in the Supreme Court by a 7-2 vote.  

• In Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a low-income mother applied for a tax-credit scholarship for her child’s Christian school tuition. The Montana Department of Revenue refused, arguing scholarships couldn’t be used at religious schools. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the mother. 

• Last, in Carson v. Makin, several families sued the state of Maine for not allowing their children to use tuition assistance programs to attend private, religious schools despite the absence of a public school in their district. The Supreme Court ruled again that Maine could not exclude religious institutions from public funding simply because they were religious.