Publicly Funded Religious Charter School Ruled Unconstitutional

A publicly funded religious charter school was declared unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The school would've been the first of its kind. As a result of the Supreme Court's 6-2 ruling, the Oklahoma Charter School Board must rescind its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School.

Eric Paisner, the acting CEO for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, praised the ruling in a statement.

"All charter schools are public schools. The National Alliance firmly believes charter schools, like all other public schools, may not be religious institutions," Paisner said. "We insist every charter school student must be given the same federal and state civil rights and constitutional protections as their district school peers.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City now has 10 days to petition for a rehearing, The Hill reported. The church spent months fighting the state's Charter School Board to gain approval for the virtual school, according to the Hill.

"For anyone to say, with a broad brush, that all charter schools are public schools is disingenuous because each state has a different program," Brett Farley, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Oklahoma, previously told The Hill prior to the ruling. "We believe in Oklahoma that charter schools are non-state actors because our framework is very loose."

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