WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The conservative US Supreme Court will weigh a case on Wednesday challenging the ban on using public money to fund religious charter schools.

Nearly all 50 states already allow charter schools, which are privately managed but publicly funded.

But the Catholic Church in Oklahoma is vying to open the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school, Saint Isidore of Seville.

Named in homage to the patron saint of the internet, a 7th century Spanish bishop, plaintiffs say the school would promote “parental choice, individual liberty, educational diversity, and student achievement.”

“Excluding religious groups from Oklahoma’s charter school program denies these opportunities and causes real harm,” plaintiffs add.

If the Supreme Court sides with the Catholic Church, taxpayer funding for religious education could see a huge uptick.

The separation between church and state is a bedrock principle of the US government, rooted in the First Amendment of the Constitution. The separation has been upheld in many Supreme Court decisions.

In the case before the court, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the creation of the school violates both US and state constitutions.