Oklahoma's Republican attorney general has petitioned the state's highest court to halt the establishment of what could become the nation's inaugural publicly funded Catholic charter school. The attorney general contended that the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board's 3-2 vote in June to greenlight the Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's proposal to form the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School was in violation of the law, as well as the state and federal constitutions.
The attorney general accused the board members of breaching their oath of office and warned them of the consequences should they proceed with their decision. The case has garnered significant attention as proponents of the school believe recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings suggest a more favorable stance towards public funds being allocated to religious institutions.
During the proceedings, a justice on the Oklahoma high court raised the example of Medicaid funding for patients at St. Anthony's Hospital, a Catholic healthcare provider, to question the distinction between funding for services provided by religious entities and the establishment of a public Catholic charter school.
The attorney general emphasized the unprecedented intertwining of state and church that would occur if the Catholic charter school were to be approved, expressing concerns about potential implications such as public schools teaching Islamic doctrine or Satanism.
On the other side, the attorney representing St. Isidore argued that many private religious organizations already receive state funding for offering services to students, asserting that rejecting the archdiocese's application solely on religious grounds would be unconstitutional.
The Catholic virtual charter school has reportedly received a substantial number of applications and aims to secure state funding by July 1, with classes slated to commence in the upcoming fall semester. The school plans to cater to students from kindergarten through 12th grade across Oklahoma.
The court did not provide a timeline for its decision on the matter.
