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CV NEWS FEED // As attorneys prepare to advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court for a Catholic charter school’s right to open in Oklahoma, state officials are sharing their differing viewpoints on the legality of the proposed school’s existence.
CatholicVote previously reported that the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments April 30 in a case that centers around St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Charter School, which would provide a free alternative to public schools. The Daily Signal reported that Oklahoma’s public schools are consistently ranked among the worst in the country, currently ranking 48th out of 51 (50 states plus Washington, D.C.).
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The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore in 2023. Brian Shellem, chairman of the board, told the Daily Signal that he’s focused on improving the quality of education in the state rather than converting students to Catholicism through the charter school.
“We want to make sure we have great options for families to choose and expand their choices so that we can improve educational outcomes for the state of Oklahoma and the children and the families,” he said.
As CatholicVote previously reported, Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a lawsuit in 2023 to stop the school from opening based on establishment of religion concerns. According to the Daily Signal, he argued that Oklahoma’s school choice laws already offer state residents the opportunity to use state tuition assistance for religious private schools, making religious public schools redundant.
“St. Isidore’s proponents have said the public charter school will be ‘Catholic in every way,’ from employment regulations to Catholic instruction,” Leslie Berger, Drummond’s press secretary said, according to the Daily Signal. “As the attorney general has argued, that simply cannot be squared with the Oklahoma Constitution or the U.S. Constitution.
“The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahoma’s Constitution wisely understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the state from sponsoring any religion at all. If St. Isidore Catholic public charter school is allowed to proceed, the inevitable result will be taxpayer-funded public schools teaching Sharia law, Wicca — even the Church of Satan.”
The Daily Signal reported that the lawsuit was filed on the basis of a 1907 Oklahoma amendment similar to the Blaine Amendment, which was proposed for the U.S. Constitution in the 19th century and would have banned states from funding religiously affiliated schools with public money if it had not failed. Thirty-six other states have similar amendments.
St. Isidore is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. According to the Daily Signal, Senior Counsel Phil Sechler said that the U.S. Constitution, which protects free exercise of religion, would override any concerns on Drummond’s part about violations of the Oklahoma Constitution.
“That Constitution makes clear that you’re entitled to the free exercise of religion, which the Supreme Court has made clear, means that state programs, government programs that are open to private groups are open to religious groups, too,” Sechler said. “They have to be.”
