Okla. Approves US' First Publicly Funded Religious School

Facts

• On Monday, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to allow the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma to open the first publicly funded religious school in the US — the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.¹
• However, Republican state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, in a statement, called this approval “contrary to Oklahoma law” and warned that the board and the state could be subject to “legal action that could be costly.”²
• The board, which rejected the archdiocese’s first plan in April, said it was voting on whether the application met its standards, not the constitutionality of the plan.³
• St. Isidore is scheduled to open in late 2024 to students from kindergarten through high school with a goal of educating “the entire child: soul, heart, intellect and body.”⁴
• Not long after the vote, the [advocacy group] Americans United for Separation of Church and State declared it would legally challenge the decision over what it claims are violations of Oklahoma taxpayers’ and public-school families’ religious freedom.⁵
• In 2020 and 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled that religious schools can’t be excluded from state programs if a state chooses to subsidize private schools.⁵

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²USA Today, ³Reuters, ⁴BBC News, and ⁵New York Times.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by US News & World Report. The archdiocese and its allies shouldn’t celebrate too hard. The board’s decision won’t be able to withstand upcoming legal challenges, as it clearly violates the state’s charter school law that requires schools to be non-sectarian. In addition, the school’s application openly says it will violate regulations against discrimination to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church.
• Right narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. Anti-religious groups should make all the legal challenges they want, but remember that recent Supreme Court rulings have paved the way for schools like this to obtain public funding. Parents, not the state, should determine the best learning environment for their children, and this school will provide another attractive option.