The U.S. Supreme Court split 4-4 in a major case involving religious rights in American education. Charter schools are considered public schools

With only eight justices voting, the 4-4 tie leaves in place an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that a public religious charter school would violate the separation of church and state.

The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked an effort by two Catholic dioceses in Oklahoma to establish what would have been the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious public charter school.