Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether States Can Bar Catholic Schools From Universal Preschool Program

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving the State of Colorado and Catholic plaintiffs, according to a live coverage page from NBC News dated Nov. 3, 2026. That report contains no further detail about the substance of the arguments or any outcome.

A separate report from The Washington Times, which described the hearing as taking place on Tuesday, framed the case as testing whether states can bar religiously faithful Catholic schools from a universal preschool program. According to that account, the concern is that such schools can exclude families who do not adhere to the church’s teachings on homosexuality. The Washington Times headline said the Supreme Court was poised to favor the Catholic schools, but the body of the report as supplied does not set out the justices’ reasoning or any ruling.

The two reports differ in emphasis. The NBC News page records only that the arguments took place and that the State of Colorado and Catholic plaintiffs appeared before the court. The Washington Times report adds the question at the center of the dispute, namely whether a state may exclude religiously faithful schools from a publicly funded universal preschool program, and it presents the exclusion concern as a point of contention in the case.

No decision from the court is reported in the material available. Readers should treat the Washington Times’ characterization of the court’s leanings as that outlet’s reading of the hearing, not as a ruling, and should await the court’s written opinion for the outcome. The available facts also do not establish the full positions of each party beyond what is stated above (Psalm 82:3).