If the court eventually rules in favor of religious charter schools, as some legal experts expect, it could have broad implications for the separation of church and state, as well as lead to more charter schools and less money for traditional public schools.

“This is a huge deal,” said Preston Green, an education law professor at the University of Connecticut, “and not just for red states, but for the entire country.”

Should the question make its way to the Supreme Court, Preston Green, a professor at the University of Connecticut who studies educational law, believes that the court’s conservative majority would be likely to embrace charter schools as “private actors,” opening the door to religious charters.

“I just can’t see them saying ‘no’ to this, if they get a chance,” he said.

“These decisions can have major implications for them, because you’re going to see religious churches and other entities saying that they want to run charter schools, and they want to run religious charter schools,” Preston Green said.