Global Courant
The vote of the school board sparks a battle between freedom of religion and the separation of church and state.
An Oklahoma state school board has voted to approve the first publicly funded religious school in the United States, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional.
The statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted three to two on Monday to approve the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s application to create the St Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School.
The online public charter school would be open to students statewide, from kindergarten through grade 12, the senior year of school.
However, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond warned the board that such a decision would clearly violate the Oklahoma Constitution.
“The approval of a state-funded religious school is against Oklahoma law and not in the interest of the taxpayer,” Drummond said in a statement shortly after the board vote. “It is extremely disappointing that board members have violated their oath to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. By doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potential legal action that can be costly.
The Catholic Church in Oklahoma has pushed for the creation of a government-funded virtual charter school to further its mission (File: Nick Oxford/Reuters)
In the “vision and purpose” section of the school’s application, the Archdiocese of Oklahoma says that “the Catholic school participates in the evangelistic mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is provided.”
Brett Farley, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, said, “We are thrilled that the board agreed with our arguments and application for the nation’s first religious charter school.”
The nonprofit organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State denounced the board’s approval.
“It’s hard to think of a more obvious violation of the religious freedom of Oklahoma taxpayers and public school families than the state that established the nation’s first religious public charter school,” said the group’s president and CEO, Rachel Laser. , in a statement.
“This is a major change for American democracy. Americans United will work with our Oklahoma and national partners to take all possible legal action to challenge this decision and defend the separation of church and state promised in both the Oklahoma and U.S. Constitutions.
Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has expressed support for the state-funded religious school (File: Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Earlier this year, Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law a bill that would give parents in the state a tax break to send their children to private schools, including religious schools. He praised the board’s vote on Monday.
“This is a victory for freedom of religion and education in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child’s education,” Stitt said in a statement.
