Background
Parents and guardians of students enrolled in independent study programs at two California charter schools requested that the schools purchase and permit the use of sectarian curricular materials. The schools rejected these requests because California law prohibits the teaching of sectarian or denominational doctrine in public schools. The plaintiffs alleged that this rejection violated the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment, arguing the programs were实质上 homeschooling and should be treated as a generally available public benefit.
The court’s reasoning
The panel first determined that the independent study programs possess the critical features of public schools identified in Carson v. Makin, including being free to attend, accepting all students, adhering to state content standards, and being supervised by state-certified teachers. Consequently, the programs are public school programs, and the state may require them to provide a strictly secular education. Regarding the speech claim, the court held that a public school’s curriculum is government speech, which is not subject to scrutiny under the Free Speech Clause. The court found that the schools determined the content of the education they provide, and thus the speech was theirs, not the plaintiffs’.
The extensive legal requirements applicable to the defendant charter schools’ independent study programs make them public school programs and defeat Plaintiffs’ free exercise claim.
Woolard v. Thurmond, 152 F.4th 1050 (9th Cir. 2025)
The dissent
What it means going forward
The decision confirms that California charter schools operating independent study programs may enforce state laws prohibiting sectarian instruction without violating the First Amendment. It establishes that such programs are public school programs subject to government speech doctrines and secular education mandates.