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.

The bid to create the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school fell flat at the Supreme Court this week, but advocates believe it leaves them with a path forward. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself from the court’s 4-4 deadlocked decision,

In a split decision, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to uphold a lower court decision that held a religious charter school cannot obtain public funding from the state of Oklahoma.