Oklahoma’s Republican governor applauded the state’s charter school board for clearing the way for the nation’s first religious charter school.
“I applaud the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s courage to approve the authorization for St. Isadore of Seville Catholic Virtual School,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said in a
statement following the board’s vote. “This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education.
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in a
vote of 3-2 on June 5. The school will be run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.
“Oklahomans support religious liberty for all and support an increasingly innovative educational system that expands choice. Today, with the nation watching, our state showed we will not stand for religious discrimination,” Stitt continued.
In April, the board initially rejected the school’s application, saying they needed more details, including on the special education department. The law school at the
University of Notre Dame helped the Catholic Diocese of Oklahoma City amend its application, which was resubmitted for consideration. Notre Dame is a Catholic Institution in Indiana.
The charter school will be open to all K-12 students across the state, regardless of religious background or cultural background, beginning in the fall of 2024. It is expected to serve 500 students in the beginning and eventually 1,500.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City did not respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
Charter schools are public schools funded by taxpayer money. They are operated independently from traditional public school systems but must meet certain academic requirements.
The school would cost Oklahoma taxpayers up to $25.7 million over its first five years, according to its organizers.
Opponents Threaten Legal Action
Some state lawmakers and other groups are pushing back against the board’s decision, citing the move as “unconstitutional and lacking oversight.”“Today, Oklahoma crosses a dangerous line by approving the nation’s first state-fund church school,” Democrat state Rep. Mickey Dollens wrote on
Twitter. ”Unconstitutional and lacking oversight, taxpayers are now forced to fund religious indoctrination. A last-minute board switch only adds to the corruption. This is an attack on freedom and accountability.”
Dollens was referring to member Brian Bobek, who was appointed to the board by House Speaker Charles McCall on June 2. Bobeck’s vote has some questioning the validity of the board’s vote, according to
WCWS-TV.
The Americans United for Separation of Church and State group has vowed to challenge the board’s decision.
“I think there’s a lot of questions right now about whether that was proper and even legal,” Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser told WCWS.
Ryan Walters, State Superintendent of Public Education, said the vote is valid.
“The reality is the board vote was taken. It was legal,” Walters reportedly said. “People were appointed in a legal process.”
Walters did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.
But Dollens also argued that the board’s approval of a religious charter school violates the
Oklahoma Constitution.
“Under Article Two, Section Five, it says ‘no public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such,’” Dollens said during Monday’s debate at the Capitol in Oklahoma City.
He said the measure would result in lawsuits, and taxpayers would be forced to foot the bill.
“If someone would explain to me why one of the wealthiest religious institutions in the history of the world felt that it’s appropriate to use taxpayer dollars or how it’s burdensome on them [not to] receive taxpayer dollars to fulfill their religious mission,” Dollens rhetorically asked fellow lawmakers.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond called the board’s decision “extremely disappointing.”
“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” the Republican lawmaker wrote in a
statement. “ It’s extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the State to potential legal action that could be costly.”
The Americans United group has vowed to challenge the board’s decision.
“It’s hard to think of a clearer violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public-school families than the state establishing the nation’s first religious public charter school,” Americans United President and CEO Rachel Laser said in a
statement.
“This is a sea change for American democracy. Americans United will work with our Oklahoma and national partners to take all possible legal action to fight this decision and defend the separation of church and state that’s promised in both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions,”
Empowering Parents
Walters said he supports school choice and that he encouraged the board to approve the school’s application.“This decision reflects months of hard work, and more importantly, the will of the people of Oklahoma,” Walters said in a
statement on June 6. “I encouraged the board to approve this monumental decision, and now the U.S.’s first religious charter school will be welcomed by my administration.
“I have fought for school choice in all forms, and this further empowers parents. We will make sure every Oklahoman parent has the opportunity to decide what is best for their child,” he continued.
Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, told
CNN that the school’s supporters are prepared to defend the approval for the school.
“Public dollars currently go to all kinds of religious institutions, whether they’re education institutions in the form of tax credits, or vouchers, or something like that, but also hospitals and all kinds of religiously sponsored public benefit institutions,” Farley said.
He pointed out that federal agencies, such as FEMA, have relied on religious organizations for assistance.
“FEMA relied heavily on Catholic Charities, Baptist relief services, and all sorts of things, and so that’s just a long tradition in American history,” Farley said. So to suggest that somehow this is anathema and unconstitutional is to pose another question … where do you draw the line?”
Free Exercise Clause
Church officials have said they hope the case will reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where a conservative majority has ruled that a state cannot prohibit parents from using state school choice programs to fund religious instruction for their children.Michel Bindas, lead counsel in the Supreme Court case Carson vs. Makin, argued that Maine’s state tuition program violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by not allowing parents to select a religious school if that is what they believe is best for their child. Bindas is a
senior attorney with Institute for Justice. “When many people think about the First Amendment, they think about the Free Speech Clause, and while that’s certainly a vital protection, so, too, is the Free Exercise Clause, which enables people to live in accordance with the dictates of their faith,” Bindas said during a panel discussion on March 30 at the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative.
“Especially of interest to me is the protection the Free Exercise Clause provides for parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children. I enjoy that protection as a parent, but I also have the privilege of litigating to ensure that other parents have the ability and right to select a religious school if that is what they believe is best for their children.”
The Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs in a vote of 6-3.
Bindas said the Supreme Court’s decision paves the way for greater school choice in the United States.
Reuters contributed to this report.
