The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard argument for and against the establishment of the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board after it approved the St. Isidore contract. Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Phil Sechler is representing the Virtual Charter School Board.
Drummond contends the Catholic charter school violates both the Oklahoma Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s establishment clause.
“In this instance, the church and the state are joint venturers. The charter has formed a first-in-the-nation actual union of church and state,” Drummond told the justices. “This case is not about the exclusion of a religious entity from government aid, which implicates the Free Exercise of Religion. Rather, it is about the state’s creation of a public religious school.”
Sechler argues the school has the right to operate and adds to the choices parents can make for their children’s education.
“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more choices, not fewer. The U.S. Constitution and Oklahoma’s Religious Freedom Act both protect St. Isidore’s freedom to operate according to its faith and support the board’s decision to approve such learning options for Oklahoma families. The board knew that the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause prohibits state officials from denying public funding to religious schools simply because they are religious. We urge the state’s high court to reject this legal challenge that discriminates against religion and affirm the constitutionally protected rights of religious groups to be treated the same as their secular counterparts,” said Sechler.
The Justices will take these arguments and other written statements and evidence as they make a decision in the near future.
