A group of seven mostly Jewish taxpayers has filed a legal action opposed to the establishment of a virtual Jewish charter school in Oklahoma.
Teachers, clergy and parents with children in public schools were among those to file a motion to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation, which seeks to launch the first taxpayer-funded religious school in the nation.
The Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board denied the foundation’s application to open the school in February, leading the organization to file a lawsuit in federal court the following month. Opponents objected to spending public funds to promote Jewish religious teachings.
“The proposed intervenors who have children in Oklahoma public schools further object to public funds being diverted from their nonreligious public schools — which already face serious resource limitations — to Ben Gamla, a school that would not be appropriate for or welcoming to proposed intervenors’ children,” the suit states.
The case stems from a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling barring the use of public funds to open a Catholic charter school.
The case stems from a 2024 state Supreme Court ruling barring the use of public funds to open a Catholic charter school. An evenly split U.S. Supreme Court left the lower court ruling in place but without setting precedent.
After the state turned down the Ben Gamla Charter School application, a board member with the foundation vowed the decision would be challenged to “see whether the Supreme Court is going to take this case up.”
School organizers have hired the conservative Christian First Liberty Institute to handle the lawsuit.
“The board is simply doing what the Oklahoma Supreme Court requires, which is discriminate against faith-based applicants simply because they are religious,” the First Liberty said. “If it were not for the ban on religious schools, the board would have approved this school’s application.”
First Liberty also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, the Oklahoma charter school case considered by the Supreme Court in 2025.
The truth remains that using tax dollars to pay for religious indoctrination and discrimination is unconstitutional, said Americans United for Separation of Church and State, one of the groups representing the Oklahoma taxpayers. “Because the school would promote the beliefs of a specific religion, students and families outside that faith would effectively be excluded on the taxpayer’s dime. And Ben Gamla’s application further states that the school may base employment decisions on religion.”
The taxpayers essentially seeking co-defendant status in the lawsuit said they want to protect public education, religious freedom and the separation of church and state.
Dan Kaiman
“Public education is a foundation of our pluralistic society, and it is worth protecting,” said Rabbi Dan Kaiman, a proposed intervenor and principal rabbi of Congregation B’nai Emunah in Tulsa. He also is the parent of two public school students.
“I care deeply about Jewish education, but our community does not need or want the government’s help to pass our values on to our children. The separation of church and state is what protects every faith community, including my own.”
Kara Joy McKee
Proposed intervenor Kara Joy McKee said the state and nation are better served when religion and government do not mix.
“My family is Jewish. We know firsthand that people of all faiths are best served when public schools don’t impose one idea of religion over others,” she said. “A religious public charter school would undermine religious freedom and drain tax dollars from schools that are welcoming to students of all faiths, families and backgrounds.”
In addition to Americans United, the proposed intervenors are represented by the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, the Education Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.