US Supreme Court justices signaled a deep divide over a bid to create the nation’s first publicly funded religious charter school in a case that could lift longstanding constitutional limits on governmental support for faith.

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.

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments about faith-based schooling for parents and students as multiple cases have been brought to their bench.