OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday halted construction of the first state-funded religious charter school in the U.S., rebuffing conservatives and the state’s Republican governor who have welcomed religious groups into the public education system.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board’s 3-2 vote last year approving an application from the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma for the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School violated the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from enacting laws “affecting a state religion.” The ruling also said both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions and state law were violated.
The case is being closely watched because supporters of the school believe that recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions indicate that the court is more open to awarding public funds to religious institutions.
Conservative-led states have targeted public schools: Louisiana has required them to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, while others are under pressure to teach the Bible and ban books and lessons on race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” wrote Justice James Winchester, a judge appointed by former Republican Gov. Frank Keating, in the court’s majority opinion. “As such, a charter school must be non-sectarian.”
“However, St. Isidore will spread the Catholic school curriculum, even if it is funded by the state.”
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa said in a statement they would “explore all legal options” in response to the court ruling.
The court decided by a vote of 7-1, with one member concurring in part and one member, Chief Justice John Kane IV, abstaining. Justice Dana Kuehn dissented.
Five of the nine justices of the Oklahoma Supreme Court were appointed by Republicans, four by Democrats.
In her dissent, Kuehn wrote that barring St. Isidore from operating a charter school based solely on its religious affiliation violates the Religious Freedom Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Oklahoma Constitution does not prohibit Oklahoma from contracting with religious schools as long as state-funded, nonreligious options are available, Kuehn wrote.
Oklahoma’s Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who had urged the committee not to approve the contract, had asked the state’s highest court to step in and rule on the case. He praised the court’s decision.
“The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted the Oklahoma Constitution clearly knew the best way to protect religious freedom: by preventing the state from promoting any religion at all,” Drummond said in a statement.
The public online charter school for grades K-12 was scheduled to begin classes for its first 200 students in the fall. Part of its mission is to convert its students to the Catholic faith. The archdiocese is seeking advice from lawyers on whether to open, said Brett Farley, the executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference.
A group of Oklahoma parents, religious leaders and a nonprofit public educational organization filed suit to prevent the school from being established.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, who supported the panel’s decision, expressed disappointment that Drummond challenged it and continued to give up hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would review the case.
“I am concerned that we have sent a disturbing message that religious groups are second-class participants in our educational system,” Stitt said in a statement. “Charter schools are incredibly popular in Oklahoma – and we are simply saying: We cannot decide who gets state funding based on the religious status of a private institution.”
