The National Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School Foundation brought the suit last week against Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and the Statewide Charter School Board.
The suit was filed after the board denied the proposed Ben Gamla Jewish Charter School’s application twice, citing a previous 2024 court ruling against a proposed Catholic charter school. If approved, Ben Gamla would be the nation’s first publicly funded religious school.
The title of “first publicly funded religious school” almost belonged to the St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School. After St. Isidore’s application was denied, a lawsuit filed by Drummond went to the U.S. Supreme Court. A 4-4 decision volleyed the ruling back down to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled against St. Isidore.
Similar to arguments made on behalf of St. Isidore, Ben Gamla’s founders allege disallowing groups from opening religious charter schools amounts to religious discrimination.
At Statewide Charter School Board meetings, members said they rejected Ben Gamla’s application in order to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, though they personally disagree with it. The board hired the conservative First Liberty Institute as its representation.
Separately, Drummond is taking the board to court over that decision, alleging the board engineered its decision to focus solely on the religious aspect and thereby padding Ben Gamla’s case to focus on religious liberty. Drummond cited other issues in the school’s application, such as a significant discrepancy in enrollment numbers and questionable board membership, as additional reasons the board should have used to deny the application.
According to the motion filed Wednesday, the proposed interveners argue they have the right as taxpayers to challenge the “unlawful or unconstitutional expenditure of state funds.” They also argue that a ruling in favor of the charter school could divert limited funds away from their secular schools to a religious school with discriminatory practices.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU, Oklahoma Appleseed, the Education Law Center and the Freedom From Religion Foundation represent the intervenors.
“Our clients are seeking to vindicate the age-old, basic constitutional principle that religious schools can’t be public schools, and public schools can’t be religious,” said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, in a news release. “That vital protection, guaranteed by both Oklahoma and federal law, helps ensure that public education remains available to all students, free from religious pressure or discrimination.”
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