The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a 4-4 ruling, said Oklahoma cannot create the nation's first religious charter school funded directly with taxpayer dollars.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court came to a 4-4 tie on a case brought by Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters to allow taxpayer dollars to subsidize a Catholic charter school. ABC News reported that the stalemate — in which Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Court's three Democratic-appointed justices — was made possible

The constitutionality of religious charter schools remains an open question after the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked, 4-4, over the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School

The Supreme Court split evenly Thursday in a high-profile challenge over the nation’s first religious charter school, leaving in place a ruling from Oklahoma’s top court that found the proposed Catholic school unconstitutional.

The case, a major test of the separation of church and state, was an unexpected loss for those advocating a greater role for religion in public life.

On a more rational court, Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond would not have been close at all.