Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Oklahoma Religious Charter School Case Out of Oklahoma

Charter schools are independent systems, but they receive government funding. Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School contracted with the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which provides online learning with religious teachings.

The state’s attorney general, Gentner Drummond, has a problem with that. He asked the school district to rescind the contract because the school is religious.

Courts have trended toward allowing religious schools and organizations to receive tax money while operating in a way consistent with their faith. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the school district’s legal counsel, filed a lawsuit.

A lower court and the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled against the school district, but the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

“Oklahoma parents and children are better off with more educational choices, not fewer,” said Jim Campbell, ADF chief legal counsel. “There’s great irony in state officials who claim to be in favor of religious liberty discriminating against St. Isidore because of its Catholic beliefs.”

Campbell added that the Constitution protects St. Isadore’s religious freedom.

The high court has ruled that the government can’t exclude religious groups from programs that are generally available solely because of their religious character. The school board did the right thing. Oklahoma’s attorney general did not.