Oklahoma Catholic charter school asks Supreme Court to intervene in fight to open

A Catholic charter school in Oklahoma asked the Supreme Court on Monday to take up its case after the state’s highest court ruled it would be unlawful for public funds to go toward a religious charter school.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious liberty law firm, is representing St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School Board in its quest to become the nation’s first religious charter school. The school has also petitioned the justices using separate counsel. 

Oklahoma officials had argued that the state can exclude religious schools from the charter school program since such schools are public entities via contracting with the state.

Oklahoma’s highest court agreed in June.

“Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school,” Justice James Winchester wrote. “As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian … However, St. Isidore will evangelize the Catholic school curriculum while sponsored by the state.”

Oklahoma’s Attorney General Gentner Drummond had objected to the religious school but Gov. Kevin Stitt had supported it, according to The Associated Press. Both men are Republicans.

Mr. Drummond said he’ll continue to fight against the school to combat religious indoctrination of all faiths. 

“This unconstitutional scheme to create the nation’s first state-sponsored religious charter school will open the floodgates and force taxpayers to fund all manner of religious indoctrination, including radical Islam or even the Church of Satan. My fellow Oklahomans can rest assured that I will always fight to protect their God-given rights and uphold the law,” he said. 

St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School was expected to open this fall and welcome 500 students. It estimated its state aid would be nearly $2.7 million for the first year.

In its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, the board argues that the state’s Charter Schools Act is discriminatory toward religion.

The board says the law authorizes most private organizations to create charter schools.

“But not all private organizations are eligible — religious entities need not apply: ‘A sponsor may not authorize a charter school or program that is affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious institution,’” the board’s filing reads.

It would take four justices to vote in favor of hearing the dispute for oral arguments to be granted this term.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Alliance Defending Freedom represents the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. It represents the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School Board. The school is represented by a team of attorneys from Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic, Dechert LLP, and Perri Dunn PLLC.