Oklahoma Eyes First Religious Charter School Since SCOTUS Ruling

Facts

• An Oklahoma school board that considers applications for charter schools in the state next week will consider whether to approve the application of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the first-ever taxpayer-funded religious charter school in the US.¹
• St. Isidore, a virtual school, says it intends to serve 'as a genuine instrument of the Church,' which raises questions over the separation of church and state.²
• The St. Isidore application comes months after the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) insisted religious schools be counted among the ones that rural students with vouchers in Maine could attend. This was just the latest in a line of rulings by the conservative-leaning court that has made public funding of religious schools possible.²
• Charter schools receive public funding and have to follow the same rules as public schools. However, they avoid some regulations, including school board elections.³
• Religious groups typically open private schools so they can teach religious doctrine without government interference. If a religious charter school is publicly funded, it would have to adhere to anti-discrimination laws.³
• The church is moving forward with its application despite Republican Okla. Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s withdrawal of the state’s opinion that public funds can be used by religious charter schools, which had been filed by Gentner’s Republican predecessor John M. O’Connor in December 2022.⁴

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Washington Post, ³The hill and ⁴Education week.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. Excluding religious institutions from applying for these funds is a preposterous violation of the Constitution, as every other private entity is allowed to pursue the opening of a charter school. Affiliation with religion should not be a disqualifier. A religious charter school would provide more options to parents, who have unchallenged say over what type of education their children receive.
• Left narrative, as provided by Forbes. We’re seeing the consequences of SCOTUS chipping away at the separation of church and state in violation of the Constitution. Previously, only public schools received public funding. Now there’s a risk that public funds could be used for discrimination or to teach non-secular beliefs to students. The right-leaning court and lawmakers have opened Pandora’s box, and there could be far-reaching consequences.