The approval of the nation’s first publicly funded religious school was ruled unconstitutional by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday.
“The Santo Isidoro Contract violates state and federal laws and is unconstitutional,” the court ruled.
The Oklahoma Charter School Board has been ordered to terminate its contract with St. Isidore Catholic Virtual School of Seville.
The decision was promptly celebrated by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which opposed others in its movement and did not want to mix its mission with religion.
“The National Alliance applauds the Oklahoma Supreme Court for affirming the unconstitutionality of religious public schools. The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s 6-2 decision is a resounding victory for the integrity of public education,” said Eric Paisner, the group’s interim CEO.
“All charter schools are public schools. The National Alliance strongly believes that charter schools, like all other public schools, may not be religious institutions. We insist that all charter school students must have the same federal and state civil rights and constitutional protections as their district school counterparts. The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision reassures all Oklahoma families that their students’ constitutional rights are not sacrificed when they choose to attend a public charter school,” Paisner added.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has 10 days to request a new hearing on the matter. The decision marks a bitter defeat for the church after it fought for months with the state Charter School Board to gain approval for its online school.
St. Isidore has divided even charter school advocates, some of whom agree that it poses significant problems regarding the separation of church and state.
“Anyone to say, in general, that all charter schools are public schools is false because each state has a different program,” Brett Farley, executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference, previously told The Hill. “We believe in Oklahoma that charter schools are non-state actors because our structure is very flexible.”
The Hill has reached out to the Oklahoma Catholic Conference for comment.
Updated at 11:58 a.m. ET
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
