Oklahoma School Board Approves Taxpayer-Funded Religious School

 This is a first in the nation and yes, it will face a court challenge. This cannot stand.  From the AP:

A state school board in Oklahoma voted Monday to approve what would be the first publicly funded religious school in the nation, despite a warning from the state’s attorney general that the decision was unconstitutional.

The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve the application by the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma to establish the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School. The online public charter school would be open to students across the state in kindergarten through grade 12.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond had warned the board that such a decision clearly violated the Oklahoma Constitution.

“The approval of any publicly funded religious school is contrary to Oklahoma law and not in the best interest of taxpayers,” Drummond said in a statement shortly after the board’s vote. “It’s extremely disappointing that board members violated their oath in order to fund religious schools with our tax dollars. In doing so, these members have exposed themselves and the state to potential legal action that could be costly.”

And a big THANK YOU to that Attorney General who said this was gonna get the state in trouble. (And there's another issue with this approval.) To note, he's a Republican.

But, of course, this may be the test case that the Right wants to go to the Supreme Court.

Just so there is no mistaking what the Catholic Church is doing:

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma said in the “vision and purpose of the organization” section of its application that: “The Catholic school participates in the evangelizing mission of the Church and is the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.”

But one member of the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board was pulled and another guy installed.
 

It turns out the state Attorney General’s Office believes that Oklahoma City businessman Brian Bobek is ineligible to serve on the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board until November.
 

But an email to that effect was not received by the board’s chairman and executive director until after Bobek cast the deciding vote Monday to approve state sponsorship for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

Long-serving member Barry Beauchamp, a retired school superintendent from Lawton who had been allowed to continue serving after his term expired some months ago, was replaced abruptly on Friday by Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall.

Phil Bacharach, spokesman for Attorney General Gentner Drummond, responded: “The Attorney General has consistently maintained that a vote of approval is unconstitutional and not supported by current Oklahoma law. He will carefully weigh all available options before taking any action.”
 

Daniel Seitz, spokesman for the Oklahoma House Republican Caucus, defended Bobek’s last-minute appointment to the board.
 

“The speaker was simply filling an expired term,” he said Tuesday. “At no point was there any conversation about how Bobek would vote on something or any litmus test. The speaker gets recommendations from members of the (GOP) caucus and makes appointments.

 

Yes, the day of one of the most consequential votes in Oklahoma history, that's when the speaker decided to appoint someone. Sure.

However, the plot thickens:
 

Senate Bill 516, which was just signed into law by Gov. Stitt on Monday, will do away with the board in 2024 and create a new governing board with expanded authority over all charter schools.
 

Pointedly, SB 516 states: “A charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admission policies, employment practices, and all other operations. A sponsor may not authorize a charter school or program that is affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school or religious institution.”

To keep in mind, there are some states, like Arizona my current domicile, have a voucher system that allows public education money to flow to any private school, even religious. Naturally, that is not the same as fully funding an entire school which is what would happen under this Oklahoma law.

Private schools can take or reject anyone they want and kick out anyone they want after they take them in.

They don't have to take in Special Education students. Homeless students. ELL students. And most of all, they can reject LGBTQ students and/or their families.

Fully funding discrimination is unAmerican.