The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Wednesday to hear arguments in a bid led by two Catholic dioceses to establish in Oklahoma the nation's first taxpayer-funded religious charter school in a major test of religious rights and the separation of church and state in American education.

The justices have allowed vouchers for religious schools and required equal treatment in tuition programs. But direct government payments to religious public schools pose a new test.

A decision to allow a Catholic school to become a publicly funded charter would profoundly impact American education, experts say.