Although charter schools are publicly funded, they are privately run and must follow many of the rules that govern traditional public schools. Oklahoma law specifically states that charter schools cannot be sectarian or affiliated with religious institutions, and the state constitution states that charter schools cannot directly or indirectly use public funds for religious purposes, including education. It is prohibited to spend. Voters rejected an effort to change the state constitution in 2016, with 57% voting against allowing such spending.
Opponents, led by Oklahoma's Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, argue that the proposed school is a blatant violation of both the state and federal constitutions, with Drummond pointing to the failed referendum. In his summary. Drummond said Monday that he intends to argue the case personally in state high court.
Drummond wrote in a prepared statement that approving the Catholic school amounted to “a clear and unambiguous disregard of the clear and unambiguous provisions of the Oklahoma Constitution” and that “the framers and founders of the State of Oklahoma did not want the type of religion to be funded by the state.” “There is an obligation'' to prevent this, he said. Our country tried to prevent it. ”
He also argued that if the Catholic school were approved, the state would be obligated to fund Islamic schools that teach Sharia law, even though most Oklahomans would object.
Last year, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Committee voted 3-2 to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa. approved by a vote. Organizers estimated the school could initially accommodate her 500 students.
School leaders said St. Isidore approaches religion like any private Catholic school, weaving its teachings into every subject from math and science to history and literature.
Prior to approval, Drummond warned the state Board of Certified Education that doing so would be unconstitutional. After the board proceeded anyway, Drummond filed a lawsuit to stop the charter school board members from intentionally violating their oaths of office. A separate lawsuit filed by a group of parents, clergy and education activists also challenges the new school's approval.
supporter School officials say there is little difference between state funding for charter schools, which parents choose to attend, and private school vouchers, which bring state funding to the schools parents choose. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that it is constitutional. .
In making their case against Oklahoma schools, charter board lawyers argued that the Constitution's guarantee of the free exercise of religion means the government cannot discriminate against religious schools simply because they are religious. He cited the argument put forward by the U.S. Supreme Court that it means that
“Protecting religious freedom requires that religious groups be placed on an equal footing with secular religious groups and that religious groups are not treated in an adversarial manner,” lawyers for the charter school committee said in a prepared statement. Ta.
At issue in the case is whether schools receive state funding and are “state actors” required to follow rules governing government actions. The Charter School Commission insists that is not the case.
Leaders of the proposed new school said they established it in part to provide a Catholic education to students in rural areas where there are no private Catholic schools nearby. But it was also created intentionally to test legal limits on taxpayer funding for religious schools as part of conservative efforts to expand school choice. “If we win, it opens up all sorts of opportunities for school choice, not just in Oklahoma, but across the country,” Brett Farley of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference said last year.
The school's supporters include Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R).
The case was filed in state court, but many expect it will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. If these schools become popular, they could ultimately lead to large amounts of new funding for religious education.
“This almost seems like a fringe incident, a minor incident somewhere in Oklahoma. I think a lot will actually depend on the outcome of this incident,” said Religion of the Freedom Forum. said Charles Haynes, founder of the Freedom Center and one of the nation's leading experts on religion in schools.
If Catholic schools become widespread, does that mean religions can start charter schools that are religious in nature and receive the same funding as public schools? If that's what it means, that's a big change. ”
In recent years, religious activists have succeeded in breaking down the sharp line between public funding and religious education. In three landmark decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious institutions cannot be excluded from taxpayer-funded programs available to others.
In the 2017 incident, The high court has ruled that church-run preschools in Missouri are entitled to state grants that fund playgrounds. In 2020, a court ruled that Montana could include religious schools in a program that provides tax incentives to support tuition scholarships for private schools. And last year, a court said Maine's voucher program, which sends rural students to private high schools, must be opened to religious schools.
