Despite widespread opposition, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 Oct. 9 to allow the first publicly funded religious charter school in the nation.
St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School would be operated by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which said in its application the school would follow federal laws only if they do not conflict with church doctrine.
Litigation to stop the unprecedented funding is supported by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Civil Liberties Union, Education Law Center and Freedom from Religion Foundation.
“The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board is continuing on a misguided path to create the nation’s first religious public charter school in clear violation of Oklahoma law and the state’s promise of church-state separation and public schools that are open to all,” those groups said in a statement. “The board is ignoring the legal and public education experts, religious freedom advocates and Oklahoma taxpayers who all oppose St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — a public school that plans to discriminate against students, families and staff and indoctrinate students into one religion.”
“The board is ignoring the legal and public education experts, religious freedom advocates and Oklahoma taxpayers who all oppose St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.”
On July 31, nine Oklahoma residents and a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting public education in Oklahoma filed suit to stop the state funding. That suit is OKPLAC Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board.
The lawsuit claims the Oklahoma board violated the state Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the board’s own regulations. Among the plaintiffs are two Baptist pastors, Bruce Prescott and Mitch Randall.
Currently, the school is set to open next fall.
In its application, the archdiocese said it intends to operate St. Isidore “as a genuine instrument of the church” and will lead students to “know that human persons are destined for life with the Holy Trinity … but that in freedom, an individual may reject God’s invitation and … end up in hell.”
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, a Republican, has warned the board is creating a dangerous precedent where any religious group could open a charter school and get state funding.
“While many Oklahomans undoubtedly support charter schools sponsored by various Christian faiths, the precedent created by approval of the … application will compel approval of similar applications by all faiths, even those most Oklahomans would consider reprehensible and unworthy of public funding,” Drummond said.
But Ryan Walters, state superintendent of public instruction, said denying the church’s application would be religious discrimination.
“Those who would sue to abridge the freedom of Americans to freely exercise their religion stand against 400 years of religious tolerance in America, predating the United States itself,” Walters said. “I will fight to protect the freedom of all Oklahomans enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Oklahoma laws, especially in our schools.”
Walters’ view is diametrically opposed to previous court decisions and the stance of traditional church-state separationists. While all religious groups have the freedom to operate private schools of their choice, First Amendment protections have prevented public funding of sectarian schools.
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